When She Survived
by Lina Scriven
Summary: Terra has awoken from her stone state, and the Titans find her in traumatic condition. Slade takes her return personally. BBTerra, T for graphic injury.
1. Awaken

**Hi guys, so this is my second story and I'm really excited for it! It's a bit more serious, and I want everyone to be aware that it's got some graphic/gore stuff in the beginning (I normally don't like gore, so don't worry, I don't get descriptively graphic.) Also, this is after The End (I'm ignoring Season Five for this).**

**ALSO, I do not own Teen Titans, though I like to pretend to.**

**And also, this story makes a lot of medical and psychological references. While I am in school for psychology, I want to be clear that nothing I state here is professional, I am talking about things I have never experienced first hand, and most of my facts are probably wrong. Please do not take them seriously.**

**Okay, now that all that legal stuff is done, here you go.**

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><p><strong>Terra<strong>

I had a thought. I can't exactly pinpoint what the thought was, I just know my brain had been void of anything and then it was buzzing. It took time, it felt like hours, before my awakening brain registered itself and thought, _I'm alive._

But it wouldn't register anything else. It just stood there, thinking with nothing to process. There were no memories in there, no movements it remembered to do. I tried to find some information in there, anything as to why I was thinking, but nothing would come out.

Then, my senses started fading back in. My eyes remembered to lift themselves. My nose and ears opened. I could feel just how dry my mouth was. I was just about to have my real first, meaningful thought: _I'm thirsty_, when my fifth sense took over.

Suddenly, my body quaked in pain. I could feel my hands and legs which had been outstretched now quivering and collapsing. My insides felt tired and throbbing at the same time. My skin crawled and pulsated. Every pain swarmed through me so fast that my loading brain couldn't easily comprehend it all. The rush overwhelmed my system and before I could relearn movement, my entire body swung to the ground.

My body, after falling, draped over sharp rocks. All I could register was the pain I was in, including the new pain of what I was lying on. My eyes were open, but not by much and my vision was still fuzzy. What I could see was black. I kept coming back to the idea that maybe my eyes weren't even open, but after staring up blind, shadows began to form. I had to make the assumption that wherever I was was just dark.

I lay there. The pain seared through my body and all I could do was lay there and endure it. I kept wondering if I was dying, if I had been dead, if I was alive and dead at the same time. My limbed arms wouldn't move no matter how hard I wished I could move off the rocks. At some point, my eyes clouded again. I wondered if my vision was leaving after its brief entrance, if I was dying again. But then I felt a new sensation down the sides of my face and I recognized the emotion.

This had to be death. I had to have been dead, was reawakening for a moment, and then going back to death. Whatever let me live could not fight what had let me die. I was merely here to endure the change in state. I could barely think through it, just feel the worst of it. Soon, my thoughts would die again and I would not have to endure anymore. I wished for it. I had nothing to live for, so I wished for death.

As my sense of touch destroyed my sanity and my eyes adjusted, my ears were perking. It was no longer on catching the deep hum of my progressing brain- the one I wished would shut down- it was now noting little noises within the darkness. I just heard noises every once and while, could not file them as anything but noises. Eventually, one noise came. And then it repeated. Then again. It had a rhythm, and the bravado increased to a point where my desire to die increased, because the pressure the noise put on my ears was enough to be another pain.

But then, the rhythm increases and the decibels increased and there was a new noise, beyond what I thought was possible to endure. I could see a change in light in the darkness. The shadows contrasted more. My brain was overprocessing, trying to understand what it couldn't.

The loud noise got close to me, but I tried to ignore it. Instincts shut my eyes. The noise wouldn't go away but no matter how hard I tried, I could not escape. I was stuck in this nightmare.

When you are life like I am, and absolutely nothing more, there are only two choices: life and death. And when life becomes unbearable, all you can wait for is death. So I waited for death. I could not endure what life had in store for me.

**Robin**

This may prove that I have a soft side, but it's crucial to understanding. On the first of the month, every month, I check Terra's statue. I don't know what compelled me to make this journey so frequently, I know Beast Boy checks it as well and Raven and Cyborg come back from time to time to run tests, but I still feel responsible. Maybe it's because I'm the leader, maybe it's because I have a connection with her because I was Slade's apprentice once too. Reasons aside, I do what I do, and I don't need an explanation for being concerned.

I had gotten so used to this routine that on my way down, I was already deciding what I was going to make for lunch. When I made the last turn, I didn't even have the hopeless thought that maybe she wasn't stone anymore. I've been disappointed so many times that I've stopped trying to hope. I was just about to shine my flashback, confirm the expected, and head back.

I was so shocked, I screamed. Her platform was now empty. I moved my flashlight to see if she was there, and easily, I spotted her. Life was back in her, her pale skin shined compared to the dark cave. She was lying on the rocks below her plaque, staring straight up. I came running to her, screaming her name, but she did not respond.

Looking into her eyes, the first thing I thought was that she might be dead. Her eyes just stared up and she didn't move. She was still in her apprentice uniform, though it was even more tattered and broken. _That's it,_ I thought, _Now that she's dead, she came out of her statue form._

But then, she closed her eyes. I could see the tear stains on her cheeks. I touched the side of her face and it was warm- hot actually. I made one of her eyes open and pointed the flashlight in it. Her pupil dilated.

"Terra!" I screamed, "Terra, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

I ripped out my communicator and screamed, "Calling all Titans! Terra's alive!"

Collective surprised responses came back at once.

"Come to the cave! I need your help!"

I turned back to Terra, slowly pulling her head off the jagged rock it was laying on. Little bits of blood were dripping, I had to assume she had fallen.

"She's seriously alive?" one of the Titans, I was too overwhelmed to note which, asked. I looked at her and for a moment, I thought _no._ She didn't look alive. She was bruised and swollen and her injuries were beyond what life could handle. She was unresponsive. But her chest was lifting and falling and tears formed under her eyelashes. Alive, but barely.

For this reason, I justify all those times I walked down to her statue. All those times I was concerned. Because at this one time, one time out of the millions, I actually found her and found her just in time.

"Cyborg, stay back and get the infirmary ready. She's going to need medical attention."

"Gotcha," he said back.

I could hear the rest of the Titans already on their way down. I sat down and lifted her torso off the rocks, trying to get in a more comfortable position, "It's going to be okay," I said, "You're going to live. I promise."

When it's a promise about life and death, I know I have to keep it.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	2. Infancy

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, I know in my last story I was a very frequent poster, but this story is a LOT more difficult and I've had a LOT of writer's block. I hope you'll wait for me to update though :)**

**Also, this story is turning very lengthy in my mind, so if you stick with me, you'll have a story to follow for a long time :)**

**Also, as said in the first chapter, I make medical references, but I am not medically trained. Please do not take anyone I mention seriously.**

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><p><strong>Cyborg<strong>

Robin said Terra was going to need medical attention. He hadn't said she was hanging by a string. I wasn't even done preparing the infirmary when Raven and Starfire flew in, Terra cradled in Starfire's arm.

"She needs to be hooked up to a heart monitor," Raven instructed before Starfire even lay her down. I pulled out the proper cords and turned on the machine, focusing on the task rather than the girl.

"Where's BB and Robin?"

"They told us to go as fast as we could," Raven was short with me, "As should you."

I was about to tell her to calm down, but then I saw Terra and I understood.

The girl looked dead. I almost questioned her life, but as soon as I placed a wire, her heart caught onto the monitor.

"Her heart rate is twice the rate it should be," I noted.

Her face was bruised. Not just bruised, her face looked entirely purple. Her cheekbones were so swollen they turned her eyes to slits. Her hair had streaks of red where blood was slipping out. I touched the side of her neck and felt it swollen enough to be clogging her airway.

"Start an IV," Raven instructed. Raven and I were the licensed medics of the team, but we had never been trained for something this extreme.

I reached for Terra's hand to implant the needle and jumped back when I noticed the rest of her body. Slade's uniform was still on her, his insignia still attached to her chest. The ribbon-like strips that covered her body were slightly tattered, but still intact. Her body had swelled underneath the material, and was now coming out between the pieces. The skin swelling out was pinched in between the fabric, and like her face it was bruised. I focused on her hand and tried to pull off the glove. It wouldn't budge.

"Slade's neural uniform must still be attached to her skin," Raven noted, "Find a vein that will work."

At this point, Robin and Beast Boy had caught up. They ran into the room with intensity, screaming questions before the door even slammed closed.

"She doesn't look good," Starfire said quietly.

I found a space open at the inside of her elbow where a vein bulged due to the tight uniform and I began to insert the needle.

All my doubts of Terra's liveliness were suddenly thrown out the window. In response to the needle, her entire body jerked away. It almost looked like a seizure, where she almost hit me and almost hit her head against the bed rail. A noise came from her, but it didn't sound like a scream.

"What's wrong with her?" Beast Boy shouted. We were all stunned by her reaction: the noise she made was beyond painful. Almost sounded like a baby's cry when it was born, too uncultivated to be human and yet relatable by nature.

"Her body is too sensitive to take any pain," Raven said, "Hang on."

She put her hand over the place I had tried to insert the needle and her magic gently flowed into the area. Terra's tense face, although unclear due to its deformity, seemed to relax a little. Raven lifted her hand a little and nodded at me to try again while she let her magic flow.

The needle inserted perfectly. The IV bag started sending fluid within Terra's body. Her heart rate slowed down, if only by a few beats per minute.

"She's stabilizing," I said, "We need to get her out of this uniform. It's going to destroy her."

"Is she going to be okay?" Beast Boy was shouting again, and it was taking the concentration away from the task at hand.

"You guys gotta leave," I said, "We can't focus with the constant questions."

Robin and Starfire nodded, but Beast Boy wouldn't budge.

"If you want us to get this done, you gotta go," I said, "I won't know what's wrong if you keep interrupting."

"Is she…going to make it?" he asked. I took a deep breath.

"I need you to leave," I said darkly. His stance went rigid and Starfire and Robin took initiative to lead him out.

With the silence, I could finally think, "Raven," I said, "We need to get this thing off her. Raven?"

Her hand was still over the needle's insert site. Her face had gone white, her pupils enlarged. I nudged her softly, but there was no response.

_Don't tell me I have to do this alone._

"Raven!"

**Raven**

I have felt others' pain before. I can lift out the intensity of injuries, I can make minor strains disappear. I have felt others' emotional turmoil and I have always been able to expel it from my body. But Terra, she was different. She wasn't just close to death; she had tasted it and accepted it. Her body wasn't just injured, it was losing a battle. Her entire system was crashing and her will to live was nonexistent. The amount of pain I had to pull out of her to make the IV possible was alarming. I could feel a fever spike within my blood. My body was drenched in pain. I kept trying to fight the sensation and to stay focused, but it corrupted my functioning and I felt dead along with her.

"Raven!"

Cyborg's scream brought me back to life, if only just enough to regain control. I woke up and looked at him.

"You okay?" he seemed scared.

"Yeah," I said softly, "But, I…I need a minute," I needed a minute to meditate and get Terra's pain out of my body before I could continue. I lifted my hand away from her arm.

As I was turning away, something caught my hand. I turned back and I saw Terra, her gloved hand clawing at mine. Her eyes were still closed and she still looked unresponsive, but she had somehow turned to catch me.

"She can sense you there," Cyborg commented, "She knows you healed her."

The urge to cry surged through my body for a split second, "Terra, can you hear me?"

Her head turned slightly enough to me that I knew she could.

"Terra, I need a minute before I can help you. I need you to let go."

I tried to slip away, but she gripped tighter. Her grip was that of an infant's.

"She knows you can make her feel better," Cyborg commented.

"Terra," I started again, and her face turned closer to me. Under the bruising, she was still Terra. I was the last person she would ever turn to. And yet, here she was. Needing me.

"Okay," I said, "I'm here."

"Can you do this?" Cyborg asked. I could see his eyes asking: _Am I going to be in this alone?_

_I can expel the pain as I take it in if I really focus,_ I decided.

"We need to get this uniform off her," I said, "It's going to deteriorate her nerves."

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><p><strong>This chapter's a lot shorter than the following ones, so just wait, I'm just setting the stage. Please review, I would really like some constructive crit because I've been struggling with this story!<strong>


	3. Hear

**I wrote an entire chapter of this today so I'm celebrating by posting one! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Robin<strong>

Starfire and I waited outside the infirmary over an hour, in total silence. Every once and a while, I heard her cross and uncross her legs in nervousness, but I was too focused in my thoughts to calm her. Terra's state was imprinted in my mind, and it must have been in hers too.

Cyborg eventually came out. We stood up like loved ones in the waiting room of a hospital. Maybe that was what we were.

"Do you have an update?" I asked.

It wasn't even two in the afternoon and he had bags sagging down his eye. He rubbed the back of his head.

"We decided the next course of action was to get the suit off her. But she's in so much pain that she needs Raven's healing powers for the process. So Raven is using her powers to detach the suit from her skin."

"Well, that means there is hope, right?" Starfire asked.

"Maybe. Raven said she had to do it nerve by nerve."

It took a moment to process that statement, "Wait," I said, "What?"

Cyborg nodded, understanding my surprise, "Nerve by nerve."

"There are millions of nerves in a person's body."

"It's the only way to tear it off without also tearing off her skin."

The thought of something so graphic made me grimace. Starfire cringed.

"Star, why don't you go in there and give Raven some company?" Cyborg said, "She could use some support."

Starfire nodded and walked into the infirmary. Cyborg sat down on the metal chair she had been occupying and I sat back down in mine next to him. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"How you holding up?" I asked.

"I'm okay. It's Raven who I'm really worried about," before I could respond he asked, "Where's BB?"

"He's asleep. We slipped him a sleeping pill."

"Geez, didn't want to handle him?"

"Well, as soon as we dragged him out, he threw up."

"He _what?_"

"Went into the bathroom and puked. Must have been a response to seeing Terra in such an abused state. Starfire went in and sat with him while he got it all out his system. Then he started crying and saying he needed to go back into the infirmary. We restrained him, but he started screaming that if she died, he had to be there with her for the end. He got so worked up he almost threw up again. Starfire managed to get him into his room and lay down. I don't know what she said to him, but she got him to take the pill."

"Well, at least he's one less Titan we have to worry about right now," he sighed, "Reviving Terra is going to a job within itself."

I wished I had a medical license like them. There could be more hands and less pressure on them, "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't be," he said, "You saved her. Raven and I are trying to save her. We're heroes, it's what we do."

He had a point.

**Starfire**

There have been countless times when one of us had to be nurtured in the infirmary. I've seen my friends attached to tubes and watched their hearts on a monitor, but I have never before seen as many machines attached to my friends as I saw attached to Terra.

There was the IV tube in the crook of her arm, heart monitors sticking to her chest, something clipped to her pointer finger, a mask over her nose and mouth and another wire attached to her other arm that I didn't even know what it attached to. Machines nearby her bed hummed with more life than she had. My instinct was to cry out in empathy, but I swallowed my measly pain.

Raven was hunched over Terra's body. Her hands moved slowly down one of her arms, slipping off the bandage-like uniform.

"Friend Raven, do you require assistance?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head, "I'm okay, Starfire. You don't have to stay here."

"I wish to keep you company," I tried to keep my voice as cheery as it always was, but I felt like I was choking on the fake optimism, "You cannot stay in here alone." _There, a bit more realistic._

I thought she would fight me but she said, "Thank you," and kept working.

I walked to the side of Terra's bed that Raven wasn't occupying. I stood by her head and held back another cry. Her face, no matter how many times I looked at it, made me step back. I could only remain where I was by knowing she would eventually heal.

"Where's Beast Boy?" Raven asked. Her voice was so quiet; she was obviously just as distraught as I was.

"Sleeping soundly. I slipped him a sleeping pill."

"He took it?"

"He would not until I said that when he woke up, he could see Terra."

That was not the correct answer. All of a sudden, while still working, Raven let out a sob.

"Friend Raven, are you all right?" I had never heard her cry before.

She shook her head, "Starfire, I don't think Terra is going to make it."

"What do you mean 'make it'?"

That was not a good question. She looked up and I could see tears streaming down her face.

"Terra. May. Not. Live."

I came over to her side and slung my arm around her, trying to hug her while she continued to work.

She wept through her words, "I can get this suit off her and possibly save her, but she is so damaged, her body _wants_ to shut down. Her primal instincts are saying that it's time to get rid of the pain, but they don't realize I can do it for her. She's thinking it's time to die."

Raven can sense other people's emotions. Sometimes, she can get in their heads. If this was what Terra was thinking, it meant it was infesting Raven's thoughts.

"You have to remind her that you are here for her, no matter what," I said. I outstretched my hands and put them atop hers as she repaired Terra's skin, "And you have to remember that I am here for you, no matter what. We'll do this together," I followed the speed of her hands. We weren't moving fast, but I could definitely feel the tiny movement.

"Thank you," Raven breathed. We stood there in silence for a moment, slowly unraveling the uniform.

"You know," Raven said as we continued, "I think she can hear us."

"She can?"

"I spoke to her once and she turned her head. Just a little, but she definitely did."

I looked at Terra's face again. Her eyes were closed and her face had no expression, but I could see her head leaning towards us. I smiled and started casually talking to Raven, mostly asking how she did this procedure. After half an hour, Cyborg and Robin walked in.

"How's she doing?" Robin asked.

"It's going to be a long procedure," Raven said, "Will probably take until the early morning."

"Are you going to be able to handle it?"

Raven looked at me and smiled, "I will with some company."

**Beast Boy**

When you're in a drugged sleep, you do not dream. It is only darkness amongst you and when you wake up, you wake up groggy and thoughtless, wondering how you ended up wrapped in the warmth of your covers.

Then you remember.

Even though a sleeping pill was supposed to last for six hours, I woke up after two and I refused to let myself be succumbed by them again. I stepped out of my bed, and although I could feel my step waver, I was determined to get back to Terra.

Walking down the hall was an adventure in its own category, my body wanted to collapse while I wanted to keep going. I eventually slouched against the wall and walked with its support all the way to the infirmary. I opened the heavy doors and found the rest of the team there, casually talking

"You're all here without me?" I asked.

"Beast Boy," Starfire said, "You're supposed to still be asleep." I don't know why her hands and Raven's were running down Terra's arm.

"How is she?"

"Her heart rate's gone down. That's a good sign; it means her body isn't as stressed. And her bleeding has stopped," Raven said.

Robin and Cyborg were sitting in the corner while the girls worked. I still didn't know what they were doing but I didn't think to ask. I dragged my sleeping body to the other side of Terra's bed, to finally get a real look at her face.

It was just as horrific as when we first found her. I thought maybe my memory of it was just a dream. But then I remembered that I didn't dream.

"Say something to her," Raven said.

"Huh?"

"Talk to her. Say her name."

I wondered why she told me to do this, "Terra?" I called out, "Terra, can you hear me? It's me, Beast Boy."

Her head turned. It wasn't much, just a subtle movement, but it was enough. She heard me and reacted. Joy rushed through my sleepy veins and I grinned.

"She can hear me! Terra, Terra, I'm here!"

She turned her head just a little more. If her eyes were open, she would have been able to see me.

My hand had been next to hers. Mine brushed hers accidentally so I retracted it to not hurt her; her skin was so sensitive.

But then, in one quick motion, her hand grabbed mine. She could only cling two of my fingers, and her grip wasn't strong, but it was there.

"She wants you to be next to her," Raven said.

Slowly, I moved fingers around hers so we were holding hands. Her hand was weak, I had to keep her hand in mine or it might slip.

But, still, she knew I was there! She knew I was there and she wanted me there.

Cyborg got up and pulled a chair over to where I was standing. I sat down and looked at Terra with awe of her survival, even through this horrific event.

"She really responds well to noise," Robin noted.

"She's alive on the inside, she just needs to get better on the outside," Starfire said.

"I think we should stay in here," Cyborg proposed, "If she can listen to us talk, maybe she won't feel so alone."

"Can we do that?" I asked, looking at Robin. We had strict schedules every day: training, research, crime logs. Things that couldn't wait.

"Well, we do have a lot of work," he said, "But I think this is more important than training and we can always get paperwork done in here if needed."

Although the situation was less than ideal, we smiled. Sitting down, I began to feel tired again. I closed my eyes once, and I was back to my dreamless sleep. But I could still feel the warmth of Terra's hand on mine, where we still gripped for each other, even in unconscious states.

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><p><strong>Thank you to all of you who read my work! It puts such a smile on my face when I see people constantly commenting on my stuff- it lets me know that people actually WANT to read what I'm writing. I love you all 3 Please review and constructive crit is always appreciated!<strong>


	4. Handle

**Thank you thank you thank you to all of you! This morning, I woke up with a handful of emails about reviews, story subscriptions, author subscriptions, and I was grinning ear to ear! Especially to the ones who have always reviewed for every story, you guys don't even know how special you make me feel! I love you all! :D**

**Raven**

They could have left, but they didn't. Robin had crime reports to complete, Starfire had to train, and Cyborg had talked about improving the T-Car for _weeks_ but they didn't move. Instead, the boys sat and Starfire never took her hands off mine while Beast Boy slept holding Terra's hand. Although they proposed to stay in for Terra's sake, it was actually calming my nerves.

Although, naturally, the conversation couldn't be on anything but Terra.

"How did she…get so bruised?" Robin asked, "I have never seen someone so swollen or…purple."

"It was the rock state," I said.

"But, how? She _was _a rock. How did it do this to her?"

I sighed. With our limited resources on how a person could turn to rock (as if anyone has done research on that), I couldn't possibly know. All I knew was that it had to do with the rock to destroy her whole body like this.

"Maybe she wasn't a rock," Cyborg said out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Starfire asked. Even after three hours, she was still standing beside me, holding her hands against mine as I slowly unwound Terra from her uniform. We had almost finished one arm.

"We keep saying that she turned to rock, but maybe she didn't. Maybe she encased herself in rock. Like her body was in rock and pushing against her body all this time and this is the result."

"Maybe," I said, "It's possible." I didn't continue the conversation because it wasn't something we could know just looking at her and if Terra woke up, she probably wouldn't know either. It was better to leave the memory unsolved rather than constantly discuss it.

"Slade also beat her up before she turned to stone," I brought up, "Some of these bruises must be from that, she couldn't've healed herself while she was a stone."

"Yeah, but how bad?" Robin asked. I sighed again. I really had no answers.

"I can feel some injuries in her that is causing a lot of bruising, although not all of it. But between Slade's attack, the rock state, and not to mention this uniform that's eating at her skin, she has sustained enough injuries to make her entire body bleed."

That seemed to shut him up. Then: "But why is she not stone now?"

Robin's definitely a smart one in the group (compared to Beast Boy, everyone is), but his constant questions were pushing me off the edge.

"I don't know," I said sharply, "Something happened." And that was it.

My anger obviously got through in my voice and they all stopped talking. I continued working in the unnatural silence before I looked at Terra's face and had to suck in my frustration.

"Sorry," I said.

"Are you going to be able to handle this?" Robin said, getting stern. He never liked seeing weakness in such difficult situations.

"Star," Cyborg piped up, "Let's go make some dinner."

Starfire looked at me, afraid to leave me to the task alone but I nodded that she should go.

Once they both left, Robin stood up.

"I need you to trust me," I said him, continuing to work on Terra.

"How can I if you're turning me away? I need answers."

"I don't have the answers. All I know is that this suit is killing her and I need to get it off her."

"I don't appreciate you turning down my questions about the current situation."

One thing I could rely on about Robin was that he was a_ great_ communicator, if blunt and rude. He knew to talk when something was bothering him.

"Sorry, Robin, but I can't talk about Terra's current condition right now," _Because it's painful enough just trying to save her._ Sometimes I wished I could be as open as him.

"I don't understand. You want us all in here so she can hear us, but you don't expect us to talk about the situation?"

"I expect you to be constantly thinking about it," I spat, finally frustrated, "I expect you to be paranoid about it. I expect you to lose sleep for the next week just after seeing her deformed face. But I expect you to keep it all to yourself.

"Terra needs to hear us, it may be the only thing keeping her in reality and reminding her she's alive. But do you think she wants to hear about her injuries? She needs to hear us in our daily life. I don't expect you to ignore the situation, but I expect you to keep your mouth shut about it."

He was stunned by my words, "Then," he said slowly, "What do you want us to do?"

"I need you guys to still talk. But it needs to not be about Terra. She needs to hear about life, not herself. And," I let myself share, "I don't think I can take listening to it."

I thought he'd yell in response. I thought he'd say I actually wasn't cut out to do this and I had to stop and find a new strategy that I could handle. But he must have understood the severity and that this was the only way I could save Terra. He put his hand on my shoulder and looked down at her.

"You're making good progress," he noted. I looked down too and agreed.

"I just need one minute," he said, turning to the exit, "Can you handle it in here by yourself?"

"I'm not alone," I said, "I've got an unconscious Beast Boy."

He gave me a thumbs-up and walked out and when he said it would only be a minute, I had to trust him.

**Starfire**

Soon after Cyborg and I left the infirmary, Robin came running after us. He said we weren't allowed to talk about Terra's predicament- Raven's orders. Then he ran back to the infirmary, not explaining why he was in a hurry. However, I agreed with Raven's orders. In order to heal, Terra needed to be surrounded with pleasant conversation, not anything that could bog her down.

When Robin left, Cyborg and I decided that to make the situation better, we should make a real dinner, not like the frozen boxes the boys put in the microwave every night. I agreed and suggested we make _glorka_, a traditional Tamarean feast. He said it sounded delicious, but he didn't think we had all the ingredients for that.

Looking in the fridge he said, "We got some leftover hamburger from when Robin barbequed last week. Hamburgers and fries?"

"Sounds glorious," I actually did not care for the French fries, but last week, I was allowed to put mustard on everything…

He pulled out the ingredients from the fridge, "Anything you want to make with it?" he paused, "That's human?"

I rummaged through the cabinets, "Ooh!" I called, "We have this fancy brown pastry powder box. Do you think the rest would like something sweet?"

"Those are brownies, Star," he chuckled, "And yeah, bake those. Anything to brighten up people's moods."

We set the oven, turned on the stove and divided the work. Cooking with Cyborg was always a favorite activity of mine, he had a passion for food that no one else in the group had. He always explained how he put flavors together and had a list of recipes he wanted to try. I think he liked cooking with me too, because I was the only one who ever asked questions about his new recipes.

"Why are we making such a meal, Cyborg?" I asked while delicately cracking the eggs, "Will this help Terra wake up?"

"This is comfort food, Star. This is for us. Sometimes, when the things are going tough, you need something familiar to ground yourself."

"Hm," I thought, "Raven's favorite food is tea. Do you think we should make some for her?"

He smiled, "I think she'd like that."

I put water in the kettle and turned up the stove. Looking around the room, I thought of comfort. We all needed comfort.

**Cyborg**

You can't tell Starfire _anything._ You explain a human custom to her, thinking that she can relate to it from something on her home planet, and it turns out she doesn't actually understand it at all. Once I explained why we were making comfort food, she went scouring for anything she thought was "comfortable." She brewed tea for Raven, she put chips and salsa in a bowl because Robin ate them while he relaxed, she rummaged through our DVD collection for Disney movies. It was at this point that I wished I had telepathy and could mention to Robin and Raven that Starfire was prepared to make this the most "comfortable" crisis in history.

I could have told her to calm it down. Hamburgers and brownies were comfort enough. But I didn't have the heart to tell the girl that she didn't have to do that much work in this situation. In the back of my mind, I really didn't know how we were going to survive in that infirmary watching Raven work without being able to talk about it.

When the burgers were bubbling with juice, the fries were crispy, the brownies were gooey, and the tea was hot, we picked up everything "comfortable" that Starfire had gathered and headed back into the infirmary.

"That smells good," Robin said as we walked in. Then his eyes widened as he saw the piles of food and miscellaneous items in our hands.

"Are we having dinner," Raven asked, "Or a sleepover?"

I was holding all the food on a tray: burgers, fries, brownies, chips and salsa, tea, not to mention the jumbo-sized mustard bottle Starfire insisted on. Starfire had a collection of DVDs, games, and pillows in her arms.

Maybe Starfire's definition of comfort _was_ a sleepover.

"The chairs we have to sit on in here are quite un_comfortable_ she we need some cushioning," she explained, "And if we run out of things to talk about, we can always watch one of these charming movies or play one of these hilarious games."

"I rest my case," Raven said. She had finally finished taking the material off Terra's arm and now moved to her leg.

I divided the food amongst us, saving a plate for Beast Boy for when he woke up. I placed Raven's plate on the table next to her but she kept working as the rest of us dug in.

"Raven," Robin pointed out, "You need to eat."

"I will when I'm done," Raven said.

"You said you were going to be done in the morning. It is only six o'clock," Starfire pointed out.

"You can eat for five minutes," I said, "Then go back to your work."

She sighed, "I'm hungry, but," she slowly lifted her hands off Terra. Terra's hand swung up to grab her forearm, "When I move, that happens."

I had seen Terra's reaction before, but Starfire and Robin's eyes popped at the sight.

"And when I try to move away," Raven demonstrated. She tried to pull her arm away but Terra gripped harder.

"Your dinner is in your reach," Robin noted, "You could just eat while she clings to you."

Raven looked at the food, looked back at Terra, "I can eat in a couple hours."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Since we weren't allowed to talk about the thing on our mind, we found other, stupid things to talk about. It started with Robin thanking Starfire for getting chips, moved onto general discussion of criminals still on the loose, everyone silently hoping the alarm wouldn't go off while we cared for Terra, and Starfire suggesting we watch one of her movies.

Beast Boy woke up in the middle of the movie. He took one look at the room: the compilation of snacks and games and asked, "Dude, since when did the infirmary become a sleepover?"

"Sh, we're watching a movie," I said, "Your dinner is on the table next to you."

I saw him look over at the table which was three steps away, look at Terra's hand still clinging to his and decide to stay put.

"Heh, remember when we were fighting about putting a TV in here?" Beast Boy said quietly, "Looks like we finally had a use for it."

We watched movies until 2 in the morning. Some of them I had already seen, but others I didn't even know we had in our collection. If someone had told me I would watch movies for almost 8 hours, I would have run away. However, escaping our current situation, and having friends who knew how to make jokes during the movies, let the time fly.

At 2am, Starfire and Robin were blinking to stay awake. I could feel my battery slipping onto the low side, but I didn't want to say anything. We promised to stay in the room.

"You guys need to sleep," Raven pointed out when she saw Starfire nod off in her chair, "Just because we're in here for Terra doesn't mean you can neglect your health."

Robin nodded. I thought the two would leave and I could walk out with them to recharge, but then he noticed the other infirmary bed.

He climbed into it, flopped face first and started snoring before Raven could make a snide comment. A few minutes later, Starfire came out of her half-sleep state, noticed Robin's discovery of a comfortable sleeping place, and made him make room.

"How you holding up?" I asked Raven. She had finished one arm, both legs, her stomach, and was now just starting the arm Beast Boy's hand was still holding. He quietly got up, went to Terra's other side, and held that hand. Terra took it.

"I won't be able to sleep until I know she's better," Raven said.

"Once you get the uniform off, we'll have to start the assessment."

She nodded, "We're gonna need x-rays, a physical exam, tests. She's gonna need the whole nine yards."

I yawned, then regretted it. She was working so hard and I was tired from watching movies.

"You should go recharge."

"I don't want to leave you."

"I'm here! I'll keep her company, don't worry!" Beast Boy piped up.

"Super," Raven said sarcastically, "But, really, you need to recharge. When you're battery goes out, it goes out. I'm going to be done in four hours if I stay at the same speed, and once I'm done, I'm really going to need you."

I couldn't argue with facts. While the rest could push how much sleep they got, I had to recharge if I wanted to stay awake, "All right," I said, "I'll be back in four hours. No later."

"Good," she said.

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><p><strong>Sorry, this was kind of the long, boring chapter. Had to include it to set the pace. Review anyway please!<strong>


	5. Confess

**Hi guys! I wanted to update last night, but my internet was being stupid :P Here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Beast Boy<strong>

I guess I was hoping for too much. When I woke up again, I expected Terra to be waking up with me, the bruises already healing, ready to tell me she missed me. But, when I woke up and found her where I had left her, I had to accept reality. Fighting for life took longer than my nap.

The rest of the Titans were trying so hard to act like everything was normal as they sat crowded in the room watching movies I had already seen. Raven was the only one still plastered on Terra's predicament. I felt like we were the only ones really focused on the task at hand, that we were connected as the only ones taking care of her.

Then Cyborg and Raven talked medical talk and I realized they were the real heroes. They were the ones trying to save her. All I could do was hold her hand.

As the rest went to bed, the room got silent. Raven continued working. Her progress was alarming, most of the uniform lay lifeless around Terra. Raven looked like she couldn't go on for much longer, however, her eyes were bloodshot and she blinked a lot.

"Thanks," I said out of nowhere. She looked up while working.

"What?"

"Thanks."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For this," I gestured at Terra.

She gave me a look, "You don't have to thank me for this."

We both were quiet again. I could never get her to talk for a long time.

"Well, it's not like you really care about her."

"What are you talking about?" she said monotone, not even looking up, "I care about her."

"Not the way I cared about her."

"No," she agreed, "Not the way you care about her."

I decided to stop talking, she obviously was in no mood to talk to me, which was typical Raven. But after a long time, we both just sat in silence and I was going crazy just sitting there.

"How can you be doing this?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Terra really hurt you in the end."

"She hurt you too."

"Yeah, but, she like really hurt you. When she attacked you under Slade, she attacked you where it hurt. She _mocked _you. How can you be standing here, saving her?"

"I forgive her."

"You do?" I asked, perplexed. I always had in my head that Raven thought of Terra as the enemy in the end: as a girl we should have never trusted and who messed up any chances of being our friend in the future.

"Yes, of course I do, Beast Boy."

"How?"

"How? I forgave her, the same way you did."

"I forgave her once I saw her being controlled by Slade. She was being manipulated and needed help."

She didn't respond. Her eyes tightened and she looked closer at where she was trying to slip off the uniform.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said absent-mindedly, "Just looks like she has an injury there. Doesn't feel normal to human anatomy."

"What kind of injury?" my voice was exasperated, it went up an octave in concern.

"Maybe a fracture or something. I'm surprised I haven't felt more."

My hand unintentionally gripped tighter on Terra's hand. I didn't even notice my action until Terra moaned in pain. Raven and I both looked up at her, but she didn't do anything else. Raven shrugged and continued her work.

"I thought maybe she just woke up," I said quietly.

"She's in too much pain to wake up yet," Raven said. She sounded solemn. Maybe she had been hoping too.

Raven was almost finished with the last arm. All that was left on the uniform was the parts that didn't look like wrappings: the half shirt, underwear, shoes, and gloves. I couldn't help but wonder, and then scold myself for wondering, how she was going to remove those.

"She deserves a second chance," Raven said out of the blue.

"What?"

"You asked why I forgive her. I forgive her because she deserves a second chance."

"I figured you'd never want to give her another chance. Especially since she had a second chance to join the Titans… a second chance to not work for Slade…a chance to save me after she collapsed a rock on me."

"And she took the last one," she pointed out, "Why are you being the devil's advocate? Do you _want_ her to die?"

"No!" I shouted, "I'm just curious."

"Well, fine," she said, "If you must know, it wasn't anything Terra did that made me forgive her. It was…myself. Remember when Trigon attacked?"

"Uh, yeah, that was only three weeks ago."

"Well, I was positive the world was going to end and that it was all going to my fault. I had accepted my fate. I wasn't going to fight it anymore.

"But you guys kept fighting. You guys kept telling me everything was going to work out, and in the end, it did. When we finally defeated Trigon, I was thinking about Terra and I realized we had been the same. I had been created for evil and Slade had instilled evil in her and took control of her physical body. We both accepted our fates and let someone else control us.

"The difference was in the end, she went against Slade. I just waited for you guys to save me. I was thinking a lot about it, and I realized she deserves a second chance. If you guys hadn't given me a second chance once you learned I housed evil, I would have been devastated."

"You didn't wait to be saved. You fought too."

"Without you guys," she confessed, "I would have nothing to fight for."

We went silent. She finished unraveling the uniform on Terra's arm and moved to her feet, where Slade's shoes still grasped her skin.

"Do you have to take everything off her?"

"No, just the wrappings, her shoes, and gloves were controlled. The rest is just normal clothes."

I looked at Terra's chest, which was the only thing clothed on her torso. The Slade insignia still lay over her heart and rose with her breathing. I could see it pinned on, almost falling off, so I quickly jerked it off. Luckily, the motion didn't hurt her.

Raven worked off the shoes, then the gloves. She assessed Terra's body before going to her head, where two blue cylinders still sprung from her hair. Raven dug her hands to her scalp and removed both.

"Okay," Raven said, "I think that's everything."

She walked over to the supply closet and pulled out a hospital night gown. _Thank you_, I secretly said, noticing the lack of coverage Terra now had. She hastily covered Terra with it, like it was blanket. As the gown touched her skin, Terra groaned and writhed in the bed before quieting down again.

"It's a thin sheet," Raven said suspiciously, "How can she feel that?"

_Does she think I know?_ "Maybe she's thanking you for it?"

Raven stood there for a moment, studying her. She crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, touched the inside of Terra's bare arm and Terra made a noise again.

Then, Raven gasped. Alarm filled her eyes and she backed up slowly, ripping her hand off Terra.

"What?" I shouted, "What's wrong?"

She was heading back to the supply closet, turning away from me.

"Raven! What's wrong?"

She turned from the supply closet, her arms loaded with gauze and ice packs.

"Get ice!" she shouted, not even looking at me.

"Why?"

She turned to me, her teeth grinding together. She was pulling the gauze into individual strips and laying them on Terra's skin. Terra was groaning again in response.

"She's _burnt_," Raven scowled before returning to her work.

"Burnt? Wait, Raven, what do you-"

Then I could see it. Terra's skin that had spent so much time forcibly attached to a controlling mechanism wasn't just sensitive to the touch. It was red. It was splotchy. The nerves weren't just hurt, they were fried.

"Go! Get ice!" she shouted, "And wake up Robin and tell him to go out and get more gauze and ice!"

I ran out to follow her orders, but not fast enough to miss her swearing to herself, blaming herself.

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><p><strong>As always, I love reviews. I think this chapter was a little too flexible with Raven's character, let me know what you think!<strong>


	6. Burn

**Next update! I've written a lot recently, which means you guys get updated more frequently!**

**Though I should warn you, Fanfiction and my internet have recently been giving me some trouble where I can't login and normally this happens at night-when I tend to post. So, if I don't post as frequently as usual, please don't think I'm ignoring the story. I can't get on!**

**Also, I think it's important to reiterate for this chapter that I am not a licensed medical professional. There's a lot of medical talk here, but I actually have no idea what I'm saying.**

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><p><strong>Cyborg<strong>

Four hours was not enough time to recharge. After staying up late, taking a long nap barely got my battery back to halfway full and I could feel how sluggish I was when I started walking. Thankfully, I'm not all machine and I can recharge myself in other ways: motivation, dedication, concern.

All things I was going to need if I had to stay awake all day today as well.

I walked into the infirmary and stopped short. Instead of Terra being stripped of her uniform, she was back in bandages, white gauze this time. The rest of the team were holding ice to her body.

"What happened?" I asked. They all turned as if all woken from a trance.

"Her skin is burnt," Beast Boy said hopelessly. I turned to Raven, who was changing the IV bag.

"I didn't think of how the uniform had already affected her system. It's been attached so long and her skin was so infuriated by it that it actually burnt her skin."

"Wait, so, her _entire_ skin is burnt?" _We have to go to the hospital for severe burns, I don't know how to fix this!_

"Yes, but it's all first degree burns, mostly discomfort, and whatever damage they caused, I probably cleaned it up when I was healing her all night," she could sense my panic, "I got it covered," but she said it quietly.

"All right, well, when can we do tests?" I asked.

"I don't know. We can't have them," she meant the other Titans, "all over her like that while we do it but I'm afraid she'll be in too much pain if we take it off."

"How long have they been administering ice to her?"

"Two hours."

My mouth fell open, "Raven, how long do you hold ice to your hand if you burn it?"

"Uh, a minute? I know it's a little precautionary, but she is very sensitive and it's all her skin."

"Raven," I stopped her, "You need to relax a little."

"Uh, are we allowed to agree with that statement?" Starfire said. If Star was the one agreeing, she must have panicked and barked at them to help.

"Guys, you can stop giving her ice. She's going to be okay."

They were hesitant, but they slowly removed their bags of ice and stepped away from Terra's bed. I got closer and was yet again surprised by Terra's appearance.

I regretted my next action. Instead of gasping, or stepping away, or even screaming, when I saw her, I laughed. The white gauze was wrapped around her entire body- she looked like a mummy.

"Are you kidding?" Raven spat, "Are you seriously laughing at this?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I breathed through my giggles, "It's just…she looks like she belongs buried under a pyramid!"

Raven wasn't laughing. I could see Beast Boy half-smiling and Starfire biting her lip, but Raven looked like she could kill me right on the spot. I ended my chuckle and swallowed my laughter. _Man, I'm tired._

"We have to run medical tests," Raven said.

"What does that entail?" Starfire asked.

"It means we can be the only ones in the room for this," Raven was sharp.

"We gotta run some stuff in the room that could hurt you guys," I explained, "We'll let you know when we're done."

They understood and walked out, wishing us luck. Raven and I both turned to Terra and I suppressed my mummy thought again.

"Let's start with x-rays?" I asked.

"Sure," she said.

We have an xray camera set up right above the bed, so all we had to do was prep Terra and leave the room to take the pictures.

When they were done, we looked at the digital xrays on the monitor we had been using just hours ago to watch movies.

"I see a fracture in her right wrist," Raven said.

"And her ankle's broken. Probably broke it while falling."

We then removed the gauze from Terra's skin temporarily, looking for any discoloration on her already purple body. We checked her reflexes, felt her muscles, and generally checked for any abnormalities under her skin.

"Her left shoulder is dislocated," Raven noted.

"Lord," I said, putting the gauze back on Terra's skin, "Can you repair any of these?"

"I could. But I've given her so much magic in such little time, that I don't think I should give her anymore. She needs to heal naturally."

"I understand," I looked at her. Her eyes were sagging and she was leaning against the bed, too exhausted to even stand, "You need to go to bed."

"I'm okay."

"I can cast her injuries. You did what you could; it's time to work my magic."

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Rae, you're gonna fall over. Go take a nap. You can only do so much."

"I just," she said, "I didn't even notice she was burnt until I finished pulling off the uniform. I can't afford to make another wrong choice."

I nearly laughed again, "Well, if you keep pushing yourself, another mistake will happen. And you didn't even make a mistake, you helped her just in time. Now, go to bed. You can't make a mistake when you're sleeping."

It looked like she was going to fight me. But then, her stance relaxed and she said, "Okay. Just make sure someone's with her at all times."

This time, I did let out a laugh, "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll all come crowding back. Take as long as you need."

She nodded and walked out. I turned to Terra, in her unconscious state. Just me and her. Even when she was alive and a part of the team, we seemed to be the most distant from each other.

"Don't worry," I said to her, "Once I get you in some casts and put that shoulder back in, all you have to do is wake up and you'll be fresh and new."

She leaned towards me. Even though I had seen her do it to Raven and Beast Boy, it was a complete new awe to see her turn to me.

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><p><strong>I love reviews as always! :) Thanks for all your encouragement, guys. It fuels me to keep writing!<strong>


	7. Wait

**As KT asked for, here is the 7th chapter. Between homework and being abroad this semester, sometimes I get so busy, but I am trying to make time for this story! Thank goodness I'm ahead of my posting, otherwise you would have to wait forever! Please bare with me- I know constant updates are the best, but I think they're going to slow down soon.**

**Also, I know I am ignoring "Secrets in Detention," but this story is getting priority. That story may be on hold for a while but please do not hate me for it!**

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><p><strong>Starfire<strong>

Cyborg said that it was going to be the "waiting game" with Terra. When we were allowed back into the infirmary, I could see where they had located Terra's worse injuries and wrapped them with a rock-like substance. He did say however, that her heart rate was normal, she was getting nutrients through the IV bag, and after two days, the burns should begin healing.

We decided to make a rotating schedule so someone stayed in the room with Terra at all times. We would rotate every four hours so everyone could get some sleep, work on research, and go out for patrol. However, we also promised that if we had down time, we would spend it in the infirmary. So Terra could hear us.

I took the first rotation. Beast Boy said he would bring in the Station of Games and play with me to pass the time, even though I have never been his favorite playing partner. But as soon as he walked in with the metal box, the alarm went off.

"Aw, come on!" Beast Boy shouted, "We can ignore it, can't we?"

Robin shot him a look that was not nice. Raven came running into the room, her cape barely attached to her. She looked at Terra with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" she yelled.

"It is not Terra," I said.

"It's Dr. Light," Cyborg said, checking the computer in his arm, "Causing mayhem. Go back to bed, Raven. We can handle him."

"You sure?" she asked. Raven must have been exhausted to even consider staying home.

"Get some rest," Robin said, "We need you alert for Terra."

Raven nodded and levitated out. The boys also left.

I pulled up a chair and sat next to Terra's head. Her face was not covered in bandages, but she still had bruises. The breathing mask was still over her nose and mouth. Her eyes seemed swollen shut.

"Oh, Friend, it pains me to keep seeing you in this state. Please, heal soon and wake up so we can do the hanging out again."

I hoped maybe she would just wake up. But my asking was not enough. All she did was turn my way.

"You like hearing us, yes? Well, there is no one here for me to talk to, but perhaps I can talk to you? Would you like that?"

She did not have a response, but I already had something in mind so I decided she said yes.

"I think you would love a story! I have a lot of stories from when you left, I am certain you will find a lot of them humorous! Let's see…well, last week, Beast Boy scared Raven! He hid next to her door for hours so when she came out, he jumped out at her as a dinosaur and she screamed! We all thought at first she had been attacked, but when we got there, Beast Boy could not stop laughing! I think you would have laughed too. Raven did not laugh, she did not talk to him for the rest of the day.

"Oh, and you should have been here when Beast Boy and Cyborg had a hot dog eating contest! Of course, Beast Boy ate his "to-fu." Cyborg won, but actually, I think one day I am going to challenge Cyborg. He can eat a lot, but I have nine stomachs, so maybe I could surprise him.

"And did you know Mumbo is back? We ended up in his hat. Raven was a bunny, and she was quite adorable! Beast Boy was a lamp, you would have found it all hysterical! Of course, we did not at the time, but now I find it quite humorous.

"And Raven went to the mall with me…"

**Robin**

We waited days for Terra. First it was getting her suit off and getting all tests done and that was twenty-four hours within itself. Then we had to wait for her to wake up. We took quick rotations so everyone had a chance to sleep, especially Raven and Cyborg, who were monitoring her health and staying in the room at all times except when forced to sleep.

As for the rest of us, we stuck to our word of staying in the room whenever possible. If there was an alarm, we left, but besides that, the infirmary became our living room. Beast Boy and Cyborg played GameStation while Starfire helped me with criminal reports. Raven read, but she was distracted. Her eyes gazed over to Terra every few minutes.

At night, when it was only one person staying awake with Terra, it got lonely quickly. We wanted Terra to continue to hear us, so we started telling stories. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg (surprisingly) were good at this type of thing- telling a comatose body stories. However, Raven and I were a bit more hesitant. I turned on music instead and Raven started reading her books aloud.

On the third day, Terra's gauze was taken off. The burns had subsided; her skin was no longer red and blotchy. Her bruises were still there and turning grey. Cyborg joked that when they turned green as they healed, she would look like Beast Boy. It was funny, in a disgusting kind of way.

Both her eyes were black, which showed she broke her nose. There was nothing we could do about that, except call her a raccoon. The jokes about her health were the only things keeping us sane, we really didn't know anything else about how well she was doing besides that one day, she had to wake up.

It was nearly a week before Raven expressed real concern, "It's been six days," she said, "If she's still asleep after a week, I think we need to call in expert help."

"It's your call," I said, "You're the one trained in this."

I felt so guilty for not being able to make the executive shots. They looked to me as the leader, but there were times when I had to look back at Cyborg and Raven and ask for their advice. I hated how out of control I was. Once this Terra ordeal was over, I was going to get trained too. As their leader, I should have all the answers.

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><p><strong>You all have seriously been some of the best supporters for my writing. Even when I wasn't posting, I kept getting all these emails for being favorited or people subscribing and you don't know how great that feels! Like, this story has gotten more subscriptions than "Back Again" and it's half the length! Please let me know through reviews how you're liking the story!<strong>

**Also, if you ever want to PM me about the story, writing, or just fangirling over TT, doooo it! I love you all!**


	8. Fight

**Hi guys! I wrote a lot in the past few days, so you guys get another chapter :) It's short, but I think you'll like it!**

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><p><strong>Terra<strong>

At the bare bones, there is only life and death. When you live, you live, and when it becomes unbearable, your body deteriorates to death. However, humans were built with a reason to live, and it's why we fight death.

That reason is love.

I couldn't hear what the voices were saying. I couldn't identify the voices, it took a long time in general to register that they were voices and that voices only came from other people, people like me. The voices were always around me: near my face, pacing around my body, beyond my reach.

When the voices came, the pain died down. It still hurt beyond what my body could handle, but as the voices stayed, the pain became bearable enough to think. The voices also touched. Most of their touches hurt, but there was one, that was soothing. And a few others, that let me know the voice was next to me. Talking to me.

Before the voices were here, I was letting death win. I was letting it take over. I accepted death; I even wanted it at points. But then, as their presence stayed and I registered them as other humans, I wondered what could be the opposite of death. Did I even know what life was? Maybe I was neither dead or alive, but in limbo, and could choose.

Death was the end. But life, maybe it came with options. Maybe it came with no pain. Maybe it was worth fighting death for.

They were something to fight for, something to grip at. With no other options, I decided to fight death back.

And eventually, I did fight through.

**Starfire**

I often took the midnight to four in the morning shift since I told Terra the best stories. By the end of the week, I was beginning to run out of good Titan stories, so I started reading her Tamarean folk tales from my childhood book. I had to translate everything so she would understand and often I was not sure of the correct human word for some things, but I think she understood the stories just fine.

Then, she groaned. I looked up from my book and checked her, but she still seemed asleep.

"Do you not like this story?" I asked, "I can find a better one in here somewhere."

She groaned again and squirmed in her bed. I gasped and stood up.

"Terra?" I cried, "Terra, are you there?"

Her eyes blinked open. Between the little bit of swelling still on her face and her long sleep, they only made it open halfway. She took a giant breath. I removed the mask from her face and she coughed.

"Terra?" I asked again.

"I'm thirsty," she said hoarsely.

I ran to the sink and poured her a cup of water. I handed it to her, but she couldn't grab at it with her broken arms, so I helped her drink it.

"Thank you," she said, her voice not more than a whisper.

"Please, Terra, I must go alert the other Titans. Please stay awake, I will be right back," I ran out into the hallway shouting for them all to wake up.

"Terra's awake! Terra's awake!" I screamed.

There was no lull in between my shouting and their awakening. They immediately followed me back to the infirmary, asking a million questions.

When we got there, they saw her open eyes and crowded around her.

"Terra, you're awake!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Yeah," she whispered. She still seemed weak, but she had a soft smile, "Took awhile."

"Do you remember us?" Raven asked. She sounded professional; she was asking as a medical test, not out of concern.

"Yeah, you guys are my family," she said slowly, "Beast Boy, Raven, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire."

"Oh, Friend, you still remember us! I was afraid you have the 'am-nesia.'"

"Of course I remember you, Star…How I get like this?"

"Slade," Robin said, "He beat you to a pulp."

"Slade?" Terra asked, "Who's Slade?"

Silence. We just looked at her and looked back at each other.

"You know what," Cyborg said, "It's three in the morning. Why don't we all get some sleep, and we can talk about it in the morning? Terra, you shouldn't be thinking this much right after waking up. You need your rest."

"If you say so," she said.

"I will still stay with you for the night," I offered, "I do not wish for you to feel alone."

"Thanks," she said, "I feel like I've slept for ages, I don't why I still feel tired."

"It's the effect of the coma," Raven said. As they were leaving, Raven whispered in my ear, "Don't mention _anything_ about Slade to her."

"I'll stay too," Beast Boy offered, "I'll make you laugh!"

"No!" Cyborg and Raven both screamed, Cyborg pushing him out.

My team left me. I turned to Terra and grinned. For once, I was out of pleasant things to talk about. I could not help but wonder- if she did not remember Slade, did she not remember what she did to us?

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><p><strong>Some reviews that I got after posting the last chapter were just...I have no words. I was brought to tears. It is amazing to hear such wonderful feedback and it made me work 10X harder on the next chapters because I want to keep doling out the same quality of work that you guys love! Reviews are always appreciated, everything you say means a lot more to me than you probably think.<strong>


	9. Test

**Here's the next chapter! This is chapter 9, but I'm writing chapter 13 right now, and I think you'll enjoy what's coming up! I'm really excited about it! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Robin<strong>

I headed to the evidence room immediately after Terra asked who Slade was. There had to be a logical reason for her loss of memory, and I was determined to discover it. Raven and Cyborg needed their sleep after all their hard work; it was my turn to help with the situation.

But when I opened the door, I found that Raven had already beaten me. She was sitting at the computer, scrolling through files, "I knew you'd come here too," she said, not even turning around.

"You did?" I feigned surprise.

"Unknown mystery involving Slade? At three in the morning? It's got your name written all over it," a cup of coffee levitated over to me, "Here, you're going to need this."

I took the cup out of the air and took a long sip, coming to the computer and standing beside her, "What are you looking up?"

"Memory loss. Doesn't make sense that she remembers us but not Slade."

She was already way ahead of my research plan, "It doesn't? Wouldn't it make sense that she doesn't remember because it was the last thing that happened to her?"

"Her apprenticeship?"_The betrayal?_

"That one makes sense," she continued, "But Slade wasn't just her last memory. He popped up a million times when she was with us. Why would he just slip out of her mind?"

"Maybe Slade did it."

"That _would_ be your answer. Maybe, he has his ways of manipulation. However, first I'm looking up traditional memory loss. Maybe it's possible that she just forgets Slade. Maybe she forgets other things too, we'll have to ask her later."

"Well you're not going to know until you ask her. And you can't ask her until the morning," we turned around and Cyborg's silhouette took over the doorway, "I knew I'd find you two here. You guys really need to learn to sleep."

Raven and I just turned back to the computer. Cyborg sighed and came over.

"Guys, it could be a million things. The brain isn't something you can figure out in one Google search."

We still ignored him. He unplugged the computer.

"Tomorrow," he said, "We can ask her all the questions and come up with a proper assessment. _Tomorrow._"

Sometimes, you can't argue with a robot who's two feet taller than you. Especially when it is three in the morning and he speaks the truth.

**Raven**

We went in to check Terra's memory that morning. I wanted it to just be Cyborg and I so it was more comfortable for her, but Robin insisted he also be in the room, then Beast Boy felt left out and then the whole team was back to hanging out in the room. I told them all that if they uttered one word during the test, I would kick them out. They could tell I was stressed, and they complied.

"Wow, big audience for me?" Terra commented as we all sat in the room.

"We're going to check your memory today," I ignored her comment.

"Okay. I mean, I feel like I remember everything, but go ahead."

"Just try to answer the questions to the best of your ability," Cyborg said. He had a smile on his face- I must have been making the room tense and he was trying to subdue it.

"Your name and age?" I asked.

She laughed, "Seriously?"

"It's on the clipboard," I showed her my lengthy list.

"Terra. Sixteen."

_Already one wrong._

"Do you have superpowers?"

"Yup. Earth-moving abilities."

"Where are you from?"

The questions about her general life showed no indication of memory loss- they were all consistent with what we already knew about her. She told us her entire life story before she met us and all her travels. Nothing seemed to be missing.

"Okay," I said, "Last known memory."

"I was on a date with Beast Boy," she smiled. I could see Beast Boy shifting in his seat.

"Do you remember what was after that?"

She sat there for a moment, staring at me, "No? Am I supposed to?"

Cyborg started writing something down on his list.

"I mean, I guess I am, right? I probably didn't end up like this during our date, right?"

I could only nod, "Can you try to think?"

"I mean, I guess so," she sat there for a minute, "We went to the carnival outside the city. We played some games, went on a lot of rides. We went on the ferris wheel. We kissed, I remember that."

I could hear Beast Boy choke.

"After that, though, no. I don't remember anything else. I don't even remember coming home from our date."

Beast Boy stood up and walked out of the room.

"Okay, Cyborg's going to take over now," I said quickly, "Beast Boy, Robin and I need to tend to a case, so he and Starfire will continue the questions."

I walked out quickly and heard Robin get up to follow me. Beast boy was standing right out of the exit and I grabbed his collar and dragged him down the hall, ready to breathe fire.

"Are you trying to mess up my test?" I asked, my voice dark. The tension between my emotions and powers was almost unbearable, I tried to pull everything back together before I broke something.

"Mess it up? How would I mess it up? I didn't say anything!"

"Your reaction to her answer will make her think she said something wrong. I don't want her to know the truth until we can assess her."

Robin caught up with us, "What's wrong? Why did you pull me out?"

"I may need physical restraint from killing him," I said through clenched teeth.

"Beast Boy, why did you walk out?"

He looked down, "She remembers kissing me."

"Yeah…" Robin said, "So?"

"We never kissed."

All my anger died down. I hadn't known that detail. I assumed they had- they were stuck together like glue and obviously interested. Sympathy suddenly swelled within me and I regretted wanting to strangle him.

"You didn't?" Robin said, "I could have sworn…"

"No," Beast Boy, "Never."

"Then she made up the memory?"

"Maybe not consciously," I stepped in, "She could have added in the memory to make her lost ones clearer."

"But why would she think you kissed when you didn't?"

"We were going to," Beast Boy said, "But Slade interrupted it."

_Terra's mind is rewriting history._ "Cyborg will have some answers," I said, "He's asking about her comment about Slade last night."

We waited in silence. Beast Boy had his head hung low, unable to look at us. Robin eventually put his hand on his shoulder.

Cyborg found us, "We don't have a better meeting place than the middle of the hall?"

"What did she say?" All of us asked in urgency.

"She doesn't remember Slade. Everything's right except that she doesn't remember Slade."

"How is that possible?" Robin asked.

"Her memory just jumps from meeting us to when she came back to join the team. She remembers some missions when we had to fight Slade's robots, but doesn't relate them to him."

"She left us for _months_ to train with him," I mentioned.

"She doesn't recollect it at all," Cyborg said, "She still thinks she struggles with her powers."

We looked at each other, "Anyway," Cyborg continued, "she was asking why we keep leaving her at the same time. She's going to feel out of place if we keep leaving Starfire to babysit."

"She's still our friend," Beast Boy said.

"She is," I agreed. I had to admit, I had been thinking so much about her health that I had forgotten about her as a person. As I person I cared about, "But, I don't want us to mention her memory lapses yet. Let her get back into the swing of things. Maybe she'll come to," I turned to Beast Boy, "That means absolutely no mention of her memory about the kiss."

"You mean fake memory," he said under his breath.

"You guys never kissed?" Cyborg's mouth was agape, "Dude, I could have sworn you guys had been hooking up."

Beast Boy just walked back into the infirmary, his head low.

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><p><strong>Sometimes I get so excited about stories, I want to tell people in advance what's going to happen but then that would ruin it! Some of you hint at things that I am planning in reviews, so you might like what's coming! (You can tell I broke some major ground today haha). Please review!<strong>


	10. Recover

**Time for the next chapter! I wrote A LOT the past few days (if only I could write this fast while doing homework...). Also, I pretty much know where I'm going with everything, now it's only a matter of writing! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Beast Boy<strong>

You can say you forgive, but you don't forget. That was what we learned the hard way.

Once Terra's interrogation was finished, we went back to our normal lives. We kept up our use of the infirmary as our hang out place, because she was still too weak to leave the bed. Robin was doing work, Starfire was playing with Silkie, Raven was reading, and Cyborg was tinkering with a new weapon Robin could use.

I was sitting next to Terra, deciding whether or not to just talk or ask if she wanted to play videogames. More or less, I was battling my inner anger that wanted to scream:

_How could you not remember that you betrayed us? How could you not remember how you destroyed all of our trust? How could you remember a kiss we never had?_

It wasn't the memory loss that ate at me. It was knowing she had no regret, no remorse, no apologies for what she had done. I had forgiven her, but I hadn't realized I was still waiting for an apology.

And all I wanted to do was ask her about that _kiss._ The kiss that didn't exist, what was it like? How did she have the memory I wanted so much, a memory two people had to share, and yet she took it without me?

"Hey," she looked at me, "You seem kind of quiet today."

I wanted to be furious at her. But, then I looked at her eyes, the blue oculars I had fallen so hard over, and the healing yellow blotches around them and healing blood clots under her skin that still slightly deformed the smooth line of her cheeks and jaw, and I realized that this wasn't the concerned face of a criminal who remembers.

_When we walked back to the infirmary, Robin had asked if maybe she was lying. Raven responded, all too truthfully, that it was true. If there was one thing Terra could do, it was lie._

But then she asked about the battle that put her in this state and how many days she's been out and if the criminal is still on the loose and we don't need to be here with her if he needs to be hunted down… and we all have to accept that she really doesn't remember. Someone hiding information doesn't go searching for it.

"Slade's this…evil guy who was trying to take over the city. We got in a really big battle with him and…well, he kind of got control of you and really beat you up really bad."

"Bad is an understatement," she said, "It feels like I'm body is crawling."

"I'll up your pain meds next round," Cyborg said, "That should make you feel better."

"Thanks," Terra said, "So, why are you all cooped up in here? You should be out fighting this Slade guy for me!"

"No need," Robin said, "You threw him in a pit of lava."

"I did?" Terra said, "Wow, all by myself?"

We all nodded simultaneously.

"Wow," she whispered, "I don't think I've done anything that cool before."

I thought the memory loss would distance us, but it wasn't long before she was asking about stories of what we had been up to since she had been asleep. Starfire erupted in delight; she was ready to tell her all the stories again. It wasn't long before we all jumped in, telling her our adventures and mishaps and all the practical jokes I had pulled on Raven. We stayed away from mentioning the whole Trigon adventure, since Slade was in the story.

I nearly forgot about the tension between Terra and us until she asked, "You guys did that all in a week? When I'm gone, the world must go crazy."

We never mentioned she had been out cold as a stone for a year.

"Yeah, crazy week," Raven said in her sarcastic voice, the one where you couldn't distinguish if she was serious and bored or completely kidding and mocking you.

"I can't wait to get out of these casts," Terra continued, "Then I can fight crime again with you guys!"

"It's going to take a couple weeks," Cyborg said, "But you should be able to get out of bed in a few days."

"Good! I'm already getting antsy!"

Memory loss or not, she was still Terra.

"Can I go out crime fighting while still in my casts?"

"No!" Robin and Raven both yelled.

She laughed, "I knew you both would say that."

And I had missed her.

**Cyborg**

Terra's recovery went faster now that she was conscious. The bruises finally faded away and she looked normal and healthy again. She was smiling a lot and showed a lot of energy, although her body was still tired and she slept a lot more: most of the time she fell asleep in the middle of the day and we would clear out of the infirmary to let her have a silent nap. She didn't need any more pain medication, although Raven wanted her to stay on some to be safe.

"You're acting like a mom," Terra said, "Don't worry about me! I just want to get out of this bed and take a shower."

I would never say this out loud, but yeah, she needed a shower.

After three days, we promised that she could leave the bed and walk herself to her room. Her room was near the bathroom, and Raven promised that she could take a shower- but she or Starfire had to assist her. However, her walking had to be limited: to her room, the common room, the bathroom, and nowhere else. These were Raven's orders, not mine, but I wasn't going to challenge her opinion, especially when Terra still had a fractured arm, broken ankle, and healing shoulder.

That day, we took the IV out of Terra's arm, unhooked her to any other machines and slowly got her on her feet. She winced once her foot touched the floor.

"Cold," she said when Beast Boy asked if she was okay.

I had put her injured foot in a boot so she could walk easier, but it was still a heavy weight she had to drag. Since both her arms had limited strength, she couldn't grab onto anything, so Beast Boy and I held her arms for support.

"I didn't realize how bad the injuries were when I was lying down," Terra said, "I guess I really won't be able to fight crime for a while."

Raven rolled her eyes, "It's like no one listens to me."

We all walked with her to her bedroom. We were expecting her to have tears of joy and relief when she walked in, but all she did was smile and say she was going to take a shower. Suddenly, we had a group realization that while this was a sign of her being finally home and alive for _us_, there was nothing momentous about this occasion for her except that she was no longer stuck in an infirmary bed.

Her stance was so uneven that Star and Raven both had to help her take a shower. Robin, BB, and I went into the common room- we no longer had to cram into the lifeless infirmary. Robin flicked on the television and BB started messing through the baking supplies in the kitchen.

"What're you doin'?" I asked.

"I want to make Terra her favorite peanut butter cookies as a get well present."

Beast Boy can't bake. It's a good thing no one else eats his food because I've watched him forget to put oil in brownie batter, burn muffins, and consider liquid pancakes done. I once let him help me make a cake for Raven's birthday and that's the sole reason Robin decided we should have a sprinkler over the stove.

"Let me help you," I said, grabbing the flour that was out of his reach. I put it on the higher shelf with a purpose- so he couldn't bake without assistance.

"I can do it myself," he said.

"What's the first step?" I asked.

Robin turned to us when he heard a pause, "Fine," BB accepted. I turned on the oven.

We worked together to perfect the batter, scoop it onto the pan and bake the first batch. It wasn't until we were scooping out the second batch that he asked, "How long does it take for her to shower?"

"Raven said they were also going to talk to her about her memory loss," Robin said, "She still thinks it's 2004," Robin said.

"I thought we weren't going to tell her what she's missing?" Beast Boy asked.

"They're not going to give her details," I explained, "But Raven decided that the longer we don't tell her, the harder it will be for her to learn that she missed a year of her life because she was a rock."

"Dude, why doesn't anyone tell me this stuff?"

"Because you would want to be there with her," Robin said frankly, sounding a bit like Raven.

BB sometimes intrigues me because he still acts like such a kid. What teenage boy still holds a girl's hand when she's hurt and makes her cookies as a get well present? I've seen that heart box he made her- he had to borrow the glue gun from me and he insisted he make it himself, even though with my help he could have made it in half the time and with less glue all over him.

It's unrealistic the way he behaves to her- it honestly sounds like he walked out of a children's story. But, for Terra, she needs someone to constantly remind her she's loved. And they are a match for each other because he doesn't have a problem showing it.

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><p><strong>I didn't get a lot of hits on my last chapter, which was...confusing. It was significantly less than all the others. So if you think I'm doing worse or this is going too slow or not as interesting, let me know! I want you all to still be entertained! I think you'll like where I'm going though :)<strong>


	11. Support

**Hey, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! My account here has been weird the past few days...it wasn't sending me emails about reviews and one day it told me the latest chapter only got two hits...while over two people reviewed. So, I know I mentioned I was worried about the number of people reading...turned out to be a glitch.**

**Also, I know these past few chapters have been on the slower side, this one is a little too. Basically this story has a big part 1 and then a big part 2. Part 1 was Terra surviving, so I'm trying to get to the second part within time. Part 2 starts at the very end of chapter 12, so, it'll pick up soon enough! Hang in there, you're all so great!**

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><p><strong>Starfire<strong>

Raven said that this was going to be difficult for Terra and that she was going to need additional support. I happily agreed- I would do anything to be there for my friends. We had to help Terra shower first and I felt quite bad for her because she could not even use her arms to wash off her body. Then we had to help her get dressed and even that was so much of a struggle we had to resort to dressing her in pajama pants and a hooded sweatshirt, the only things that could easily slip over her casts. It did not matter how she looked, she was just happy to be clean and standing.

When the shower and dressing were done, Raven said, "Terra, we need to do another memory test with you."

Terra agreed to it with no arguments- Cyborg and Raven had been drilling her with so many medical questions that they no longer phased her.

"Can you tell me what day it is?" Raven asked.

"Monday," Terra said smartly. I giggled- to be supportive.

"The date," Raven reiterated.

Then, Terra was stumped.

"It's okay if you don't know the exact date. But, a ballpark figure."

"Well," Terra thought out loud, "If I've been awake for a few days and I was asleep for a week, then it must be the end of the first week of September."

"Of what year?"

Then, I could see a brief panic in Terra's face, "2004."

Raven did not correct her. I did not either; I knew Raven had more planned for the test. She picked up a blank calendar that she had planted earlier on Terra's table.

"This is a calendar of 2004 and 2005. I want you to mark the day you first met us," she handed her a pen.

Terra sat down on the bed and we sat down on either side of her. She circled January 10, 2004.

"Okay, now mark today's date," Raven said. Terra circled the second half on the first week of September 2004.

"I want you to now mark down any events you remember while you were here."

Now, Terra bit her lip. She knew she had some memory lapses, but now she had to prove how much was still there. She marked June 10, 2004 as when we celebrated her 16th birthday. She marked a date in May 2004 as when we stopped Mumbo from robbing a bank. She marked March 1, 2004 as when we played volleyball on the roof. She marked down all sorts of little memories, though sometimes she could not remember the exact date. She marked June 30, 2004 with confidence as her carnival date with Beast Boy.

There was nothing marked for the months of January, February, July or August of that year. Seeing the blank spaces, she put her pen down tentatively.

"We compiled a calendar too of important events in your life," Raven said, "I want you to look at ours and look at yours and see the differences."

Terra put both calendars in her lap and started noting the differences. There many similar marks, like her arrival and the carnival date, but we had marked other important events she had neglected.

"Why does January twelfth say I left?" she asked, "And March first say I returned?"

"Because you did," was all Raven said at first, "Keep looking."

Terra flipped through. Our calendar also had the rest of January and all of February empty, "June thirtieth, Terra leaves?" She flipped to September, beginning to understand the pattern. But instead of seeing what she had written also on ours, it said, _Terra turns to stone_.

I felt bad that this was how she was learning it, but the way Raven was presenting it was the easiest way to let all the information out. Terra knew now to keep going through our calendar. We had written nothing in 2005, with the exception of two very important dates.

_August 30, 2005: Terra is found alive_

_ September 7, 2005: Terra wakes up_

She closed the calendars and looked at Raven, "What…what are you trying to tell me?"

"Terra, do you remember _anything_?"

Terra looked back at the calendar, putting her casted hand unintentionally on the date that said she turned to stone, "I only remember waking up a few minutes before I fell into my coma. I was in a dark place and in a lot of pain before I started hearing you guys. But that's it."

"Terra, there's a reason you are missing months of events in your calendar. In those months, you weren't with us."

"What? No, I've been a Titan since January. Ever since I met you guys, I've been a Titan."

She looked at us with disbelief. Raven just shook her head, "You left."

"Where did I go?"

Raven told me beforehand that while we were going to tell Terra about time difference, we were still not going to say anything about Slade. Bringing up Slade in one sitting could be detrimental, she explained, and I had to agree.

"You left. You just, left. We think we know where you went, but you're the only person who knows for sure."

_Slade would know_, I could not help but think in my head.

The fingers hanging out of her cast clenched, even though she could barely move that hand, "No," she said defiantly, "I have always been a Titan. I can't remember everything, but I know I was here."

"You have to trust us," Raven said. I softly put my arm around Terra as she averted her gaze from us, "I know its hard to take in something that's against your memory, but you need to trust us."

Over a year ago, Terra had been begging us to trust her, only for her to betray. And here we sat, begging for the same from her.

Terra swallowed. Her body felt like it could start shaking, "Even if I did believe you that I left, what is all this?" she indicated to where we had written she turned to stone and found alive a year later.

"It's the truth."

"But what do you mean by it?"

"After you and Slade fought, your powers created a volcano and you dumped him into the lava. However, the volcano you created was a threat to the city and so you had to stop it. We're not sure exactly why- but you turned into stone."

I assumed Terra would be more confused by this information, but her eyebrows unfurrowed, "That sounds like something that could happen. I feel extremely connected to the earth, so I can see myself turning into part of it.

"But, you wrote that I came to in 2005. It's 2004."

Raven took a breath, "Terra, you turned to stone in 2004. You stayed that way for a really long time."

"A year?" She looked at Raven and back at the calendar, "_A year?"_

Raven nodded. Terra looked at me and I had to nod too.

"I've been a rock. _For a year?_"

Somehow, this was more traumatic for her than learning she left us twice. I tightened my grip around her.

Raven began, "I understand it may be hard to understand-"

"_Hard to understand?_ Are you kidding? I'll take the whole I was beaten to a pulp by a man I don't remember! And maybe I left and have some soft spots in my memory, but at least _you_ remember all your birthdays! Your life didn't hit pause while trying to stop nature from hurting your friends."

When Terra did not like something, she was defensive. Before, Raven used to get defensive back and they would storm off in opposite ways. They did not like each other for a long time. But then they became friends and the mental bond they shared through this ordeal seemed only to open Raven's emotions to understanding Terra's turmoil. So instead of fighting Terra's hot-headed accusations, Raven just grabbed her non-casted hand and held tight.

Terra stopped yelling. She paused for a moment, looked at us on either side, and burst into tears.

Normally, Terra runs away. Terra is good at letting her emotions fill her and disappearing as a way to let them out. In some senses, she is like Raven, unable to share how she is feeling, although I do believe Terra's ways have not been as successful as Raven's.

But, by holding onto her and physically showing that we would not turn on her, that we still loved her, she clung onto us for support. She gripped Raven's hand and fell into my embrace. It took her a few minutes before her full-fledged cry died down.

"I had," she breathed through the emotion, calming down, "A feeling…That more time had passed."

"I figured," Raven said, "Your memory is hazy right now. It's like, your memories are there, but you still need to put things together. As life moves on, you should learn things, little by little. We just…we couldn't let you go on living that it was a year earlier than it was. Time is sensitive; it's not something to keep in the dark. You'd go crazy."

"Thank you," Terra said, "Do you guys think I could have some time alone? I just, want to process all this," she gestured to the calendars.

"Of course," Raven said. We both got up and started to leave.

"Wait," Terra suddenly said. We stopped.

"You guys really don't know why I left?"

Her eyes with beginning to redden around the edges and her hair, wet from the shower, had tossed itself in her face. Briefly, before I even knew what I thought, I paired this Terra with an image from Terra in the past, the way she looked when her powers went out of control. Here she was again, seeking the answers to understand herself.

_I wish I could tell you_, I thought, but Raven just said we really did not.

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><p><strong>Thanks for all your reviews as always!<strong>


	12. Reassure

**First off: To Adrian Woodin: This is the next chapter, I can't answer you're question when you're not signed in sorry! I tend to post every other day or after 2 days, depending on how far I've gotten/what I'm up to.**

**Enjoy guys :) I got a nice little cliffhanger at the end that you may appreciate.**

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><p><strong>Beast Boy<strong>

Raven and Star came back into the common room just as Cyborg was taking the last batch of cookies out of the oven.

"Did it go okay?" Robin asked.

"She did not seem happy," Starfire said.

"But she accepted the information," Raven said. Why did Raven talk about all this like Terra was a science experiment? They were friends.

"Where is she?" Cyborg asked.

"In her room. She wishes to be alone," Starfire informed.

"No surprise there," Robin said before turning back around to watch TV.

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone?" I asked.

"Would you if your friends just told you that you left the team, but not why, and then informed you that you lost a year of your life because you were a rock?" Raven said darkly.

_Well, she wouldn't want to hang out with you, but she would want to hang out with me._ I thought. I almost said it, but it sounded kind of harsh. So instead I said, "Well, I made her cookies. That will cheer her up."

I took the heaping plate of cooling treats and scampered out of the room before Raven could yell at me.

"Hey, Terra," I called at her door, "Can I come in?"

No response. Terra and Raven have one thing in common: they never respond.

"Terra?"

"What?" she said in low voice. I opened the door.

"I made you cookies!" I called walking in. Her light was off and she was lying on her bed on her stomach, her face smothered in a pillow and her hair flung everywhere.

"Whatever," she said through the pillow.

"Do you want some?"

She didn't answer. I put them on her table and sat next to her on the bed. She groaned in response. I decided I had two options with her: avoid the problem with jokes or seriously approach it. Since Raven and Starfire never seemed to like my jokes in serious situations, I figured all girls were the same.

"You know, it's not the end of the world," I said.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Okay, joke time: "Well, then I guess that's good you don't remember it. Now you never have to talk about it!"

Apparently there was no good way to open up the conversation, "Are you done?" she spit, "You can leave now."

"Terra," I was speechless, "I just want to help."

She lifted her head up and I could see her bloodshot eyes through the clumps of her hair in her face, "You want to help? You want to give me a year back?"

"I know it's hard to face-"

"Hard? This isn't hard. This is a joke. When I was between life or death, I managed to tell myself that maybe there was something to live for. I thought maybe there would be no pain. But since getting here, all I've done is lie in pain, be prodded and analyzed and then get told what I know is a lie. Does that sound pain-free to you?"

"Well, no, but, life isn't pain-free. It comes with problems," I thought aloud, "If it didn't, it would be boring."

She paused, "But why do _I_ have to fight _this?_"

"Because you're strong enough to. I know you can pull through it," I reached out and stroked her hair back to see her face better. It was still slightly damp from her shower, "And I'm here to help."

She bit an incoming smile, "Thanks, Beast Boy." She tried to prop herself up, but she couldn't with the strength of her arms, so I helped her up to a sitting position.

"Soon I won't need people to help me move my body," she said shyly.

"Soon you'll be moving the Earth again!"

She giggled, "Hand me one of those cookies."

**Robin**

After Terra learned the truth (or at least some of it), things pretty much went back to normal. We were all thankful that we could head back to our normal sleep schedules, and I was the most ecstatic that we were back on training schedules. There was no worry, no talk, and no concern about Terra slipping back into our group. It was like her apprenticeship with Slade never happened. It was like we were all living in her brain and we actually felt more comfortable there. We had all moved on and since she didn't remember, she didn't have to move on.

Terra's physical progress was also coming along. We treated every milestone to her recovery as a miracle and we celebrated them as such. She was eager to get out of her casts and get back in the swing of being a Titan. As the leader, I couldn't be prouder of her. She was taking a traumatic situation and working to be the best she could after the fact. Determination, that's what a hero was made of.

During our training sessions, Terra was doing a lot of physical therapy to get her injured limbs back to optimal level. Her right shoulder was the first that completely healed and once it was out of its sling, she was moving small boulders with one arm while sitting outside. It took longer for her other arm and leg to heal, but once Cyborg said he could remove the casts from her, it was only a few days before she was back out training with us. She was starting out slow and her aim was really unsteady in the beginning, but she improved quickly and kept working until she was proud of her progress.

A month or so passed and soon enough she was back to her normal self: no injuries, a smile always on her face, throwing rocks and smashing our obstacle course. We even had to go take down Johnny Rancid one day (how his pea sized brain concocted a plan to escape prison is beyond me) and she came with us. She wasn't at her top performance, but she kept up and had a few good attacks.

I woke up early one Sunday morning to get some training in before breakfast. I had just put on my uniform and about to make my bed when someone knocked on my door.

_Who's awake before me?_ I thought, opening the door. Cyborg was standing there, his face emotionless. He quickly walked in and shut the door.

"We've got a bad situation," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"The Tower's got an incoming call from a villain."

"So? You know what to do when we get one of those. Check where it's coming from, let it through, and sound the alarm."

"Dude, I don't think that's such a good idea. I know this frequency number that's coming in, I've seen it every time one person and only one person calls."

"Who is it?" his panic was setting me off. Cyborg is connected to the Tower; he knows what's going to happen before it happens, but he never intercepts or interprets a call before we get to it.

"It's _Slade_, man."

My heart accelerated, skin pores opened up to release sweat, eyes contracted, mouth went dry: Slade's mere name can invoke fear in all of us, no matter how many times we've defeated him.

"What do we do?" he asked.

I never forget that I'm the leader, I have to make a decision despite my own overwhelmed state. I swallowed even though my throat is bone-dry and said, "Don't sound the alarm. Quietly wake up Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire and quietly tell them to come to the main room. We'll take the call together."

"No Terra?"

"Leave her out of this," I made the decision I knew he had seeked me out for.

"I'll see you in five minutes," he said before stepping out. I took in a deep breath before running out myself, ready for whatever new scheme Slade had up his sleeve.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think! :D<strong>


	13. Call

**Time for the second plot! Enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>Raven<strong>

I knew there was a problem immediately when Cyborg stood in my doorway.

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"We have to take a call. Come quickly," he said before he shut the door and left. I wiped clean the sleep from my eyes before dressing quickly and running out to the common room. Standing there already were Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy and Cyborg were right behind me, Beast Boy trying to walk off his sleep. Starfire looked like she had been pulled out of bed too, her hair wasn't even brushed.

"Where's Terra?" Beast Boy's voice sounded more pre-pubescent when he was tired.

"This doesn't need to concern her," Robin said. He turned on the video phone and said, "No loud reactions."

"Hello, Titans," that voice has haunted my dreams before- it's haunted all of us. As the screen came to, the mask with one ocular glared at us. It felt familiar and that familiarity made me nauseous.

"Slade?" Beast Boy choked.

"The one and only," Slade said in his sarcastic, cheery voice.

"What are you planning now, Slade?" Robin asked, always ready to get to the point.

"Planning? You're so quick to assume things. I had so much fun helping you defeat Trigon, I thought we could hang out again…I have a little _game._"

"What is it?"

"Relax, Robin. The timer won't start until you do."

"Timer?"

"Oh, yes, a timer. I know how well you all perform under pressure."

"What's the _game_, Slade?" Robin was getting angry.

"I thought you could start with a little tour of Jump City. You five don't get out enough. I've hidden…Easter eggs…in the five most populated areas of the city. The faster you can get to them, the more of the population will be saved."

"Easter eggs, huh?" Cyborg spoke up, "Sounds more like bombs."

"You children get smarter every day. The timer starts as soon as this call ends. Good luck Titans, I enjoy these chats we have."

He clicked off and everyone panicked.

"How much time do we have?"

"Where did he put these magical eggs?"

"We're going to need to split up."

"What about Terra?"

"Guys," I said, hoping they would stop yelling over each other, "The timer is ticking. We need to figure out where the most populated places are in Jump City."

Robin's the leader, but I've learned early on that he gets so distracted when it's Slade that I have to be the one who thinks about the problem logically.

Cyborg got on the computer fast and researched my question, "Beast Boy, leave a note for Terra saying we went on a mission and we didn't want to exert her strength."

He ran out to find a pen and paper, "Starfire and Robin, start moving into the city. We'll contact you where to go and then we'll head out. Everyone will split to the five different places."

"Work fast, we'll see you soon," Robin said before he and Starfire ran out. Beast Boy scribbled a message and left it on the kitchen counter and ran out of the Tower as well.

"I got the locations," Cyborg said. I checked the list, memorized it, and ran out with him.

"Slade's done decoys before. You think he's pulling it again?" I asked through my communicator after Cyborg gave the team the coordinates.

"Maybe," Robin said, "But we can't just assume and let him destroy innocent lives."

It's never a simple game with Slade. If there's someone who can test our limits, it's him. But, Robin was right. Until we knew more, we had to play the game his way.

**Terra**

I like to sleep in. Normally, Beast Boy has to shake me awake because if no one's physically pulling me out of bed, I sleep the morning away. Weekdays are always a struggle, no matter how much sleep I get in advance. Saturdays are a drag too because Robin likes us to train in the morning.

Sundays, though, Sundays I practically run out of bed. Cyborg and Beast Boy started this ritual of making pancakes and waffles every Sunday morning before I joined the team. Cyborg's cooking, even if it's a premade batter, is somehow ten times more amazing than anyone else's. I always jump out of bed ready for Sunday's breakfast.

So, it was a typical Sunday. I got dressed, pranced out of my room, and opened the common room door ready to see Cyborg and Beast Boy flipping pancakes and the vegan-friendly alternative. I was thinking of how many I could consume-my usual is four-when I stopped short.

Where were they?

I easily found a bright white paper on the counter. In Beast Boy's scribbles, it said they went out on a mission and would be back soon. I sighed, throwing the note in the trash. I had been improving, but they still didn't think I was strong enough. Maybe someday, but maybe wasn't coming fast enough.

Then the alarm sounded. I was taken by surprise; the Tower was so quiet that I nearly jumped. The computer said there was incoming call and I had never been home alone when this happened so I had to make the executive decision to answer it.

The screen turned on and the man looking at me, well, I just had to assume it was a man. Half of his mask was black, blending with the background. A single eye looked me up and down and I could feel in my gut that he was grinning.

"Long time no see," his voice ripped through me. He sounded familiar. Like, if I described a villain in a nightmare, his voice would sound like him.

_Long time no see? _Did_ I know him?_

"Same," I lied hesitantly, "What do you want?"

"What, Terra? That's all? Aren't you more shocked to see me?"

"Yeah, petrified," I said sarcastically. I didn't want to give away my memory loss, "Cut to the chase."

"On the defensive side today, I see. Very well. Where are the rest of the Titans?"

"Around. Why, you need to chat with them too?"

"Do you know where they are?"

"Yeah."

"Do you, Terra?"

The way he said my name made my spine shake. Nevertheless, his question made me wonder. They went on a mission, but where?

"_I _know where they are."

"Then why don't you meet them up and chat with them there?"

He let out a sigh, "Oh, Terra, you know how to quickly make a fun game boring. Maybe we should just cut to the chase."

"Be my guest."

"Half an hour ago, I told the Titans that there were five bombs across the city. The five are actually traps. When they get to the area to detach the bombs, they will be attacked by my robots and taken into custody, one by one. The only way to stop it, is to come find _me._"

"Where are you? I'll meet you there before you hang up."

"Coordinates are being sent."

Then I remembered, "Should…should I trust you?" It was a stupid question.

"Your friends are walking into a trap. How can you afford _not to._"

He had a point. The printer came to life and a paper came out with the coordinates.

"Make it quick, Terra. I can't wait to catch up."

_What does he mean?_ There was no time to ask questions. I memorized the coordinates and ran out, pulling out my communicator.

"Someone come in!" I shouted. I got outside and jumped onto a rock to head into the city.

"Terra!" Raven was the first to respond, "Everything's okay. We don't need help."

"They're traps!" I shouted over the wind, "A man called the Tower and said you would be attacked at the sites! They're not bombs!"

"A man?" Robin cut in, "What man?"

"He had half a mask and one eye! Don't go you guys, I got it covered," I explained in more detail what he said to me.

"Terra…that man…lies very frequently. We can't trust what he says."

"But he's obviously up to something," Raven commented.

"We have to check the areas for the people's safety," Robin continued, "We can't let bombs go off for no reason. Terra, you're going to have to continue to the place he told you to go to. We have to cover the bases until we learn his real plan."

"I'll let you know," I said before ending the conversation. My balance was off on my boulder; I could tell I still wasn't at the top of my game. Maybe I wasn't fit for this mission. Didn't matter how I felt about it at this point though, I just had to keep moving and pretend I was a threat.

**Robin**

Not even a minute after Terra hung up, Raven called me.

"You think it's a good idea for her to go after Slade by herself?" she asked.

"Absolutely not," I said, "We'll cover your bomb. You follow her coordinates. We'll meet you as soon as we can."

"Even if you have to battle Slade's bots?" she pointed out.

"Even if we have to break every single one in half."

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><p><strong>FYI- posting rate may slow down a little :( I've been uninspired which is lame, but to top it off, it's midterms AND my friend from school is visiting for the weekend and I'm her tour guide! So, not much writing is happening and it may reflect on my posting. I'll try my hardest though! As per usual, your reviews keep me going! Let me know what you think of this new plot!<strong>


	14. Worry

**Here's the next chapter! Still midterms time, haven't had the chance to write, but I promise to get through this story in a timely manner! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Cyborg<strong>

Things worried me more and more as the day went on. First, as soon as I woke up to start flipping pancakes, a call came in and before even looking, I knew something was beyond wrong. Then it was Slade's number. Then he said he wanted to play a game. Slade doesn't play a straight, simple crime, much less a game with only one level. Going to these bombs was falling into a trap and knowing it, but it was the only way we could eventually get to Slade and stop him.

But then him calling again to talk to Terra? She picked up the call before I could even notice it ring in my system. I couldn't help but wonder, did Slade plan to call us and then call her? Did he even know she was around? He gave her other directions and that unnerved me beyond no end. And from her narration, she still had no idea who he was. She was falling into a trap too, but she didn't know the way he worked like how we did.

I had far too much swimming through my head about what Slade could be planning for Terra and at the same time, I was driving to a location where I did not even know what danger I could be in.

My destination was the pier carnival. Both tourists and locals go there and especially on a weekend, it gets busy fast. I got out of the T-car and ran through the area, assuming where he would put the bomb. The most popular part of the carnival is the ferris wheel, it always has a line that snakes multiple times at the entrance. When I reached the line, I plowed through the innocent people patiently waiting, and held my arm, with a built-in electronics tracker, to notice there was a bomb on an unoccupied ferris wheel car.

The ferris wheel was moving and the car moving right to where I was standing. I widened my stance and as it dropped towards me and I jumped into it. I saw the bomb on the seat, tiny but potentially stuffed with deadly parts. I took out the screwdriver in my finger and opened it up.

Dust. A cloud of dust puffed into my eyes and my one human eye teared.

_A fake!_ I was so angry I nearly threw it.

"Terra was right!" I shouted angrily to the rest, "It's a decoy!"

"We have to check the others anyway," Robin said, "What would happen if only one was a decoy and the rest went off?"

He was right, we had to protect innocent lives first and foremost, "I'll check the one Raven was going to get," I said.

"Guys," Raven's voice came in, "Terra's coordinates aren't right."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm standing in the park. She's not here. I tried contacting her, but her communicator is fuzzy."

"I thought she was going to those coordinates."

"Me too."

The way Raven said it… it haunted me.

"This isn't a game," Beast Boy finally realized, "This is one big trap."

"Beast Boy, go to where Raven is. Try to get a lock on Terra's location. We'll cover your bomb location."

"I'm on my way," Beast Boy said. I was already back in the T-car to get to the next bomb. I could feel my stomach churn. Terra should have stayed at home.

**Terra**

I should have just rolled over this morning. I felt kind of tired; I should have listened to my body. I was cursing my poor timing, Cyborg's delicious pancakes, anything that I could blame for somehow being the one who received this man's second phone call.

The coordinates were a trap. He told me to go to the park, which even I know is not a typical place for a villain. I started walking around and saw a tree there that I didn't remember from before I was stone. I went over to it, touched the wood, and tried to lift it with my powers.

When it didn't budge, I realized it was fake.

And suddenly, the tree opened into two. I looked around, hesitantly walked into its hollow inside and fell into a hole it was hiding. I landed with a clamor and once the tree closed back up, the sunlight disappeared and I was in utter darkness.

Nothing else to do but call out, "Hello?" and get back on my two feet.

Then the area flooded with light. I blocked my face for a moment before my eyes adjusted. The ceiling was covered in florescent lights, but the rest of the room: the walls and the floors were made of sleek, silver metal. The room was large, as big as our common room and had a high ceiling. It was empty.

Except for the man- _that_ man- standing on the opposite side.

"Is this where I fight to take back the Titans?" I called. My voice echoed.

"No," he said. He walked a few steps, his metal shoes clanking against the floor. There was a bo-staff in his hand and he stood with arrogance, his chest puffed high.

"This is where you fight for your life."

He ran towards me, but I was quick enough to step to the side. I brought my hands up to bring rocks from around us inside, but nothing happened.

"Did you think I wouldn't prepare?" he said, stopping his attack to talk, "This room was designed to keep everything, every_thing_, out. Even though there is dirt surrounding us, the walls are far too thick to let anything in."

"You wanted to make this an unfair fight?" I called, now getting nervous. My hand-to-hand skills definitely were not as developed as my powers, especially so soon after my recovery.

"Maybe I should rephrase," he walked slowly over. He really was from a nightmare.

"This isn't where you fight for your life. This is where you lose it."

**Raven**

Sweat was dripping from my hair. The locators said that Terra was right in the same place as me, but she was nowhere to be seen. I called her name a few times, but nothing. I kept trying her communicator, but it was the same fuzzy response.

Beast Boy came running to me only twenty minutes after he said he was on his way.

"You found her?" he asked.

"Obviously," I said sarcastically. It was far too rude for me to say it that way, but I couldn't help it. I have never been so tense, and having Beast Boy with me, the one who cared about her most, just made it worse.

"She's supposed to be here," I continued, hoping he would ignore my first remark. I showed him how the locator was saying we were practically standing on her. He understood it immediately.

"She's underground," he said.

"How do you know?"

"Because when has Slade ever had anything in a normal location?"

How he managed to pull a half-joke at this time, when the girl he liked was missing, I will never comprehend.

"How are we supposed to check if she's underground?" I asked.

He turned into a groundhog and started drilling right under my feet.

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><p><strong>I always love reviews! Thank you to all who review, I appreciate it so much!<strong>


	15. Repress

**I'm baaaaaaack! Between submitting midterms, a week of being really uninspired, and getting sick which I did NOT plan for, I wrote over 1000 words today! I'm back on track which means I get to submit a new chapter! Hope you like it!**

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><p><strong>Slade<strong>

I thought maybe she was pulling an act, but I could tell in her eyes she did not recognize me. She had no memory of who I was, what she had done to me, where we left off. As I attacked her, she jumped, but it wasn't her fast reflexes that frustrated me. It was her innocent eyes, with no memory in them of why this was happening to her.

"Forgive me, child, it seems as though I should properly introduce myself," I said before grabbing at her arm and shoving her against the wall. She yelped.

"Who needs an introduction? You're the villain, I'm the hero, I take you down," she managed to jump up and kick me straight in the stomach. I stepped back in surprise; I must have forgotten that I taught her a few hand-to-hand tricks. She wouldn't be good for long though, not without her powers.

"On the contrary, Terra, in this situation, I do not believe you will be winning. I am very familiar with your fighting abilities."

She took it like I had been watching her, "Creep," she tried to throw a punch, but I grabbed her hand and threw it down.

"Terra, you don't even remember how well I know you."

That stopped her. I took her surprise to my advantage and swept her off her feet with my staff. She hit the ground with an echoing thump.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, jumping back up.

"You've obviously repressed me from your memory. Not surprising. I tend to have that effect on people. I think the Titans would be happier if they didn't remember me. But, don't worry, Terra. You don't have to remember me. It'll come eventually."

I got an open shot at her head. She went down fast.

She started to breathe fast. She didn't even bother to get up. She just propped herself up and asked, "Who are you?"

"Well, if you're not going to put the pieces together, my name is Slade. You used to call me master. That is, until you threw me in a volcano."

I smashed her back into the floor. The information and the hand-to-hand combat, the two combined were too much for her. She didn't stand a chance.

**Beast Boy**

_Clunk._

_Ouch._

My head bashed full force into heavy metal. As an instinctual reaction, I was shocked that I bumped into metal while delving into dirt. Then my senses came to and I remembered that this was what I was looking for. I felt around, still as a groundhog, and could feel the metal running through the Earth for a long distance, enough to hold a person. Once I put two and two together, I drove back up to air.

When I popped up, I was several yards away from Raven. She raised an eyebrow but came towards me with urgency.

"Anything?"

I nodded and turned back into human form. I pulled out my communicator to let the rest know, but a message came in before I spoke.

"My bomb was a decoy," Starfire said, "It was filled with a gray substance that made me sneeze."

"I got the same," Robin said, "I'm on my way to Beast Boy's."

"I think I found where Terra is," I jumped in and explained my discovery, "We need to break through the metal to see what's beyond it."

"Cy, Star, you two are best suited for this."

"I still haven't checked the last bomb," Cyborg mentioned. There was a lull in the conversation.

"Leave it. They have to be decoys. I'll check Beast Boy's and if it's real, I'll head over to the last one."

"Got it," Cyborg said.

"I don't feel good about that decision," Raven said to me, crossing her arms.

"I don't feel good about any of this."

**Terra**

Surely I would have remembered this Slade. He had gloves wired with tiny spikes so every punch had an extra kick. He had armored shoes so his kicks left red marks. His uniform was padded so every time I lunged for him, my attack never made any impact. There was strength in his actual body; he could throw me across the room like I was a football. Even in the seriousness of the situation, I thought stupid things. Like maybe I should gain fifty pounds- I would be harder to lift then.

But even when I had dumb thoughts, I was scared. With nothing to grasp for help, it was me and something stronger than me. This wasn't a criminal looking to disarm me because I got in the way of his crime or a lunatic looking for power over the city; this was a man bloodthirsty for the kill.

He was going to get what he wanted too. I was out of options.

He had thrown me down and I just couldn't get up again. My arms quivered and I knew they were too weak to pick me back up. To make it worse, he kicked my side and I rolled like dead weight. There was a shot to my head.

All I could think was how long my old bruises took to heal and in half an hour, he made all new ones.

Then there was a ruckus. It wasn't him; I can't even explain it. It was like a zap and then some bangs and there might have been a chainsaw noise. All I know was when the noises started, he stopped.

"Hm," he said, "Looks like round one is over."

His footsteps banged away. I tried to get up, but to no avail. My eyesight went blurry and I had to accept that in a moment, things were going to go black.

"Don't think round two won't be far behind."

A smash. Then my hearing went out too.

**Starfire**

Between Cyborg's handy tools imbedded within his body and my starbolts, we managed to tear away the metal underground and make a hole big enough for me to fly through. Raven was quickly after me, Beast Boy was racing in as a tiny mouse right next to her. The hole was too small for Cyborg; he said he would keep watch.

I expected to see Slade there, it was the only thing that would make sense, but he was not present. Instead, in the empty, brightly lit room, was just Terra, lying on her stomach. We raced over to her and as we got closer, we realized Slade had to have been here.

We kneeled around Terra and rolled her over. Her eyes were closed and I gasped at the sight. Her eyes were closed and around one was black. Her body had multiple contusions and cuts. It was not nearly as bad when Robin found her in the cave, but the sight still shocked me.

"Is she-" I started.

"She's alive. Just knocked unconscious," Raven said. She sat Terra up and immediately pulled her hand back. There was blood on it, "We have to take her to the infirmary."

I took Terra into my arms, since I was the strongest.

"Where is he?" Beast Boy yelled. His voice was ferocious, like the beast I have seen him transform into.

"I don't know," Raven said, "But we can't worry about that right now."

Terra was breathing in my arms. Feeling her lungs fill with air gave me reassurance. It took a lot for me to still find the joy to fly out of the metal box and back up to the air. Cyborg took one look at Terra and said we had to go.

"The fourth bomb was a decoy as well," Robin's voice burst in our communicators, "I'm on my way!"

"There's no need," Raven was the first to pull hers out, "Meet us at the Tower."

"Is Terra there? Did you get Slade?"

"Slade's gone. Terra…needs medical attention."

His voice lost its urgency, "I'm on my way."

The four of us-and Terra- piled up into the T-car, Terra lying across us in the back. No one spoke. Cyborg's eyes were glued to the road, Raven was staring out the window, Beast Boy was looking down with what had to be tears in his eyes.

As soon as Cyborg parked, I lifted Terra out and flew her to the infirmary with Raven close behind me. I stepped aside and let her do her medical work; she checked Terra's vitals and wound her cuts in bandages.

"She's not too bad this time," she said to Cyborg as he ran into the room, "She doesn't need extra support. She just got knocked out."

Robin's footsteps could be heard across the Tower. Beast Boy was already in the room, I did not even notice him run in.

"What happened?" Robin asked. He came to Terra's bed, "Is she okay?"

"Nothing too extreme. Slade just took it a little too far," Raven said.

"Where is he?"

"He disappeared," Beast Boy said quietly.

"We have to go out and find him. We'll cover the park and find where he escaped."

With ironic timing, the alarm went off.

"No," Raven said in disbelief.

"Cyborg, what is it?" Robin asked. Cyborg pressed the buttons on his arm before his face contorted to shock.

"The last bomb. It went off."

A loud silence blasted through the room.

Robin then said, "We have to go."

"What about Terra?" Beast Boy asked. I did not notice this at first, but his hand was wrapped around hers. Even when she was unconscious, he was trying to stay close to her.

"You can stay with her," Robin said, "We'll be back as soon as we can."

Robin told us to move and although my entire body felt like a heavy weight between the morning's mission and the constant emotional shocks, I found a way to make myself fly. Hope, at this point, was the last thing I was riding on.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think! How do you feel about this plot? I really want to know!<strong>


	16. Dream

**Hey, sorry for the wait! Things got busy and I got writer's block! :P I know, I know, I'm lame. It's so hard cause I'm getting to the end of the story, but I'm not sure how it's going to end!**

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><p><strong>Terra<strong>

He came from _nightmares_.

I woke up in the infirmary bed. The lights were all off and the only light came from the full moon resting peacefully in a black sky. I looked to my right where Raven usually stood and it was bare. I looked to my left where the rest normally sat, but the chairs were empty. I was in my arm cast, sling, and boot. _They must have gone to sleep. They'll be back soon._

"Morning, sunshine," my head turned straight in front of me and there he was, glaring back at me.

"Slade!" I screamed, probably to alert the others, "Slade!"

"There, there, it will all be over in a moment," he grabbed my foot and started dragging me out of the bed. I tried to kick, but my other foot was numb in its boot.

"No, please, no!" I begged. As he dragged my body closer to him, I pulled my right hand out of its sling and grabbed onto the mattress as the only prevention to keep myself away from him. I gripped as hard as I could, but his strength was more powerful than my repairing body. My healing shoulder failed me, and my arm slipped right out of its socket. I screamed in pain.

"Stay calm. You don't want to wake up your friends for nothing."

My legs slid off the bed and my chest was directly under his chin.

"Sometimes," he said, "You have to accept death."

He lifted his hand and a knife glimmered in the calm moonlight before he threw it straight down into my chest.

**Beast Boy**

Terra screamed herself out of her unconscious state. She sat up straight, breathing deep, withdrawing her hand from mine.

"Slade!" she screamed.

"Terra!" I shouted to get her attention. She looked over to me and her breath dwindled down, "Terra, it's okay. You were fighting him, but it's over now. He's gone."

"It's not over!" she was defiant, "He said it wasn't over."

I couldn't disagree, "It's never over with Slade. But it's over for now."

She didn't respond. She just looked straight ahead and her eyes were big.

"Here," I said, moving myself into her periphery, "I need to check to make sure you didn't suffer a concussion. Raven taught me how," I took out a flashlight and ran it past her eyes. She followed it fine.

"You're a-okay!" I said cheerily. Water filled her eyes.

"He said he was going to kill me," she said quietly.

"He said that?" my idea to make the situation lighter couldn't work now; this was far too serious for even the best of my jokes. She tried to swallow her emotions, but the tears dripped down her face.

"He said he was going to get even with me. He said he _knew _me, that I used to call him master."

"Slade's full of lies, Terra. He'll warp your mind until you believe everything he says." _He's done it to you before._

"What happened, Beast Boy?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What happened between me and him?"

"Terra…I can't exactly…it's compli-"

"He said he was going to _kill me_. He wants me for dead and I don't even remember him. I don't even remember what I did to him."

_It's not what you did to him. It's what he did to you._

She broke down. She started sobbing into her hands and curling into a ball¸ "He's gonna come back," she said through her sobs, "He's gonna come back and he's too strong."

"Hey, hey, hey!" I butt in, "Don't talk like that!" I sat on the bed, just enough that our sides were touching, "You're way tougher than him!"

"He's got a plan, Beast Boy, don't you see? He said round one was over, he's going to attack me again. I don't even know what I'm up against."

"No," I admitted, "No, you don't. But you still know a lot."

She let go of her face and I got a good look of her tear-soaked eyes. Even when she was afraid; she was beautiful, "I do?"

"Sure. You've only battled him once, but you know how he works now. You know he plays dirty. He talks and gets in your head. He doesn't want you to use your powers. He's _afraid _of your powers."

She said quietly, "That's true."

"Yeah!" I put my arm around her and squished her closer to me, "And when he comes again, you'll be able to take him."

I thought my upbeat pep talk could get through to her and make her smile. But the fear was still imbedded deep in her head and she looked away.

"I'm still so scared," she finally whispered.

We didn't talk for a long time. At some point, my arm slipped from her. I grasped her hand instead and we sat there with our fingers laced.

"You have every reason to be," I finally said, "But we'll be here for you. I'll be here for you. I'll stay right next to you until Slade's defeated."

"You promise?"

I scooted on the bed so I was sitting comfortably next to her. I raised our intertwined hands and squeezed hers. _I'm not losing you to him again._

"Promise."

When it's a promise about life and death, I know I have to keep it.

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><p><strong>I'm sorry for such a short chapter! The next two are much longer! I love reviews guys, and again, I'm so sorry for now posting as frequently!<strong>


	17. Panic

**I wish I had an excuse for how late this is. But, besides being forgetful, I don't. Yes, I am aware of how lame that makes me. I hope you guys will forgive me and enjoy the story!**

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><p><strong>Robin<strong>

Prevention is the best crime-stopper. Had we checked all the bombs and been thorough in our work, we would not be stuck in this more complicated mess. It would have taken me only half an hour to find the bomb and deactivate it. Instead, I rode on my flimsy instincts and decided prevention wasn't worth my time.

Luckily, Slade's not after killing masses of people, though sometimes he pulls off that look. So while the bomb was in a popular location, it was in an office building. And it was Sunday, so no one was working. Still, the clean-up and crowd control was a mess and it was up to us to handle it.

Half the building collapsed and dust flew through the nearby blocks. The debris blocked off a major street. It resulted in multiple car crashes, some that weren't pretty. The crashes and falling pieces caused some fires, which alarmed more people. Every little problem that arose from this explosion was our responsibility as protectors of the city. And as a reminder of how skimping on patrol can lead to disaster.

Cyborg started by picking up the large chunks of the building left in the road. Starfire and I were rescuing people from the crashed cars and those hit by debris. Raven was moving the remains with Cyborg until the speculators decided they wanted to ask her questions about the bomb and she got stuck on crowd control: moving people out of the way so we could do our job.

We ripped through cars to take people's hands, we called ambulances, we trued to dull down the fires and then called the fire department when our efforts weren't good enough. We put up barricades to block off the area, we dealt with onlookers, we calmed terrified children whose parents were hit by debris, we called loved ones, we coughed from the dust.

The physical turmoil of constantly picking up a big object, putting it down somewhere else, walking back and repeating. The emotional turmoil of seeing the destruction to the city you work so hard to save and the innocent lives have been hurt; they should never be hurt. The guilt that comes with it. The guilt that was further brought on when civilians ask why the bomb went off in the first place, why didn't we know about it and stop it.

And the voice in my head kept screaming that once this was over, there was so much more to do. _Slade's still out there. What is his plan? How is Terra?_ It was enough mental pressure to make me physically collapse.

We watched the sun set as we finished our work. I realized that I had seen the sun rise this morning too, when I was stepping out of bed and looking forward to my training session and pancakes. I had been hoping it would be a nice day so we could play volleyball on the roof or football in the park. Looking back, it was a nice day today. I couldn't even stop to appreciate it.

We were so exhausted; Starfire and Raven stated they didn't even have the energy to fly home. My entire body ached. When the situation was finally under control, we climbed into the T-car and sat there silently. Cyborg yawned while he drove.

"I'm going to make a big dinner when we get back," he said, "We need to eat something after all that work."

I could have fallen asleep right there in the passenger seat, but there were too many unanswered problems in my head that I couldn't mentally relax.

When we got to the Tower, Cyborg went straight for the kitchen, ripping through the cabinets for anything he could cook. The rest of us headed back to the infirmary with a drag to our walk. On the bed were Terra and Beast Boy, holding hands and talking casually. They seemed so calm in such a desperate state of affairs.

But then they heard the door open and Terra's eyes widened.

"You okay?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah," she said, her expression softening, "The door just…I got scared."

He squeezed her hand and looked at us, "How did it go?"

"It was an absolute disaster," Raven said. We sat on the chairs with large thumps; Terra and Beast Boy could easily read our exhaustion.

But I still had to muster energy, "How are you feeling, Terra?"

"Um, better? I have a pounding headache and my body is sore, but I'm okay," she said. At this point, we looked more drained than her. Now that we weren't rushing out of the room, I could see her injuries. Multiple bruises and bandaged cuts all down her arms and legs, her cheek and eye swallowed in swelling.

"What happened exactly?" I asked.

"He gave me those coordinates, which led me to an underground location that was made of metal. He said some stuff about me knowing him which I didn't understand," she paused, "But he didn't explain. He just told me that he was going to kill me."

"Kill you?" Starfire screamed, "But why?"

"Wanted to get even," she said solemnly, "Then he attacked me and I couldn't use my powers in there. I blacked out before I saw him leave, but he said it wasn't over."

"It's not..what?" I was in disbelief.

"He said he's going to come back. Finish what he started," Terra said.

We were shocked, so shocked that I think it gave us a second burst of energy.

"Slade is one to make a lot of death threats," Raven mused, "But he's never carried them out."

"Because we've never given him the chance," I countered, "If Slade said he wanted you dead, he probably meant it."

"Well, yeah," Beast Boy said, "Look what he did to her. And he lured her to a place where she couldn't use her powers and he distracted us too."

"Slade does not do normal crimes," Starfire spoke up, "He always has a bigger plan."

"I don't know what's bigger than death," Terra whispered.

"Well, it's not going to happen. He won't get you Terra, we won't let him."

"We'll have to prepare a plan," Raven said, "To be ready for him in any condition." We all nodded.

At that point, Cyborg came in smiling with plates of food, "It's dinnertime, y'all! Dig in!" he had mountains of pasta and various pieces of chicken, probably the fastest things he could cook to ward of our dying energy.

Just as I took a mountain of food, he came between Raven and I and lowly said, "Hey, can I talk to you two a second in the other room?"

"Sure," we both said- me expressionless, Raven with suspicion. We put our plates down to follow him out.

"You're going to want those," he said. I raised an eyebrow but we followed his request, "Be right back," he said to the rest and we stepped out of the room.

I thought we would just talk in the hallway. But Cyborg led us all the way back to the common room.

"You're gonna want to eat fast," he said. He hadn't noticed we were scoffing down our meal while walking.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You need to be ready for this," he said.

"What's wrong?" I persisted, "Why'd you bring us out here?"

"Because you're the only two who won't absolutely panic…I don't know how to break this."

"Cyborg," Raven said lowly, "What's. Wrong."

He took in a huge breath, "About ninety seconds ago, the Tower's alarm went off in my system. I've had it silenced, you know, because of Terra, I didn't want the alarm to go off again and scare her."

"Well, what does the alarm say?"

"Says there's an intruder."

"An intruder?" Raven asked, "Where?"

"In the Tower."

He was right, anyone besides us would panic.

"Someone's in the Tower right now," he said quietly, as if he was now afraid the intruder would hear him.

"Someone got through the system?" I asked.

"I don't know, they must have!" Cyborg was panicking, "It's happened before, but I don't know how they got in."

"Relax," Raven said, "We need to keep calm and locate the intruder."

"We need to warn the others," I said, "Before the intruder finds them."

We headed back to the infirmary with urgency.

"Where's Terra?" I asked when I stepped in. Her part of the bed was empty.

"She went to her room for something," Beast Boy said.

_Terra has the worst timing in the entire world_, I couldn't help but think.

"We have a situation," I said, "Cyborg just informed us that there's an intruder in the Tower. I don't know who they are or what they're here for, but we need to locate and destroy them."

"It's Slade," Beast Boy said darkly, "He told Terra he'd be back for her."

I knew it was Slade too, I just didn't want to jump to any more conclusions, "We need to go and find her."

Starfire and Beast Boy jumped up and as a group we ran towards Terra's room. The sense of urgency felt funny and eerie as we were searching for something that had invaded our home. Knowing that we would have to approach Slade again, a person I would be happy to never see again; sent my heart racing.

Then we heard a scream- Terra screamed- and we ran faster, approaching her room in record time. All I could think while running there though was how sluggish I felt. After Slade's bomb hunt, Slade making us recover Terra, Slade setting off the one bomb we left, I had nothing left. This really was an intricate plan of his, like all his plans. He was going to wear us out until we couldn't play his game anymore.

But when we found Terra, and Slade as expected, we had to muster everything we still had.

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><p><em><strong><strong>_**Please review! Thanks for patiently waiting!**


	18. Hunt

**You're all right, I can't leave you hanging! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Raven<strong>

It's one thing to run to the danger. When the alarm sounds, we leave the security of our Tower and we make the conscious decision to put ourselves in harm's way. As heroes, we ignore fear and common sense to protect others. They say we're fearless, but I think we've just turned numb.

It's another story, an entirely different concept though when the danger comes to you. When the danger hunts you down, breaks into your secure retreat and goes searching for you. It's not your choice to fight anymore. It's your fight to survive.

And when we found Slade standing in Terra's room with her frozen in shock in her doorway, we all felt the fear you can't subdue. We all stopped in the same shock as her. Just seeing him there, in our Tower, was enough to make my heart rate spike.

Slade, naturally, broke the ice, "Titans. I wondered how long it would be until you found me here."

And, naturally, Robin wasn't having any of his chatter, "What do you want from Terra?"

"She knows very well what my plan is for her. She knows the inevitable. It's none of your business."

"You want her to die, she said. Is that the truth?"

"Do you trust her?"

A low blow, but it hit where it hurt. Terra looked at us and in the moment, I saw her in two lights. She was the friend I had grown to care about and the heartless monster that drowned me in mud with no spark of regret. Maybe he was right.

"We're sick of your lies, Slade," Beast Boy spoke up and tossed me out of my doubt. Slade was manipulating our thoughts again, making us believe our friend was the enemy and deterring us from the real issue.

Frustrated with Slade's talk, Robin shouted, "Titans, go!" and we all charged. Beast Boy, taking the whole situation personally, jumped into his tiger form and pounced right on Slade's chest. Starfire and Cyborg were right in the frontlines, starbolts and sonic cannons glowing. Terra was standing beside me, both our hands in position, as she leaned against her stronger leg.

"Get her out of here," Robin said to me, his bo-staff ready to attack as Slade swiped Beast Boy off him. Before Terra could note what was happening, I grabbed her wrist and we went sprinting down the hall. She barely kept up.

"Where we going?" she asked.

"Out of here. If he's coming to kill you, we need to keep you as far away as possible," she wasn't in any condition to fight anyway. She wasn't in any condition when Slade started this fight and his morning attack had made her worse.

"What's he doing here?" she asked, "How did he get in here?"

"I have no idea. But he's done it before." _But that time, you helped him._ My mind for some reason was stuck on when she had betrayed us. Slade really did know how to attack us in every sense of the word.

"Why did he ask if you trusted me?"

If it weren't urgent to leave, I would have stopped dead in my tracks. As I was stuck in the past, she still didn't remember why her honesty was questioned. Here I was, doubting her loyalty and she was looking with lost eyes, unsure as to why she was the target of our most feared criminal.

But there was no time to even explain or think of a vague answer. As we rounded the corner to the elevator to the exit, we ran into a crowd of Slade's robots. I gasped and Terra screamed.

"He brought an army with him," I growled, "Are you going to be able to fight through them?"

Her hands glowed and sharp boulders came through nearby open windows, "Just tell me when to stop smashing."

**Starfire**

I did not appreciate Slade's arrival. It was very inconsiderate of him to attack the Tower, especially after he created so much damage to the city this afternoon. I also was disgusted that he would want to do something as vile as kill Terra. Terra does not deserve to die, she did wrong, but she also redeemed herself in the end and if killing her is his revenge for her trying to kill him, then his logic is unappealing because he is a bad guy and she is a hero.

And when anyone, especially Slade, wants to hurt one of my friends, I take it personally. I do not hold back.

When we found Slade in Terra's room, I was itching to fight him. All I could remember were the injuries he had made on Terra and I wanted to do the same to him. When Robin gave the order, I was pulsating with righteous fury.

We battled Slade within Terra's bedroom, which also infuriated me because now her room was being destroyed and Terra loved her bedroom. He was ruining every part of her life that he could and I wanted to stop him so much. Every time I had an open shot, I would hit him with every starbolt I could procure. Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy were equally energized by Slade's arrival and were attacking him left and right. Our performance was not as good as normal however, as we were so exhausted from the day. Robin and Beast Boy did not have their sharpest reflexes and were taking kicks left and right from Slade. Cyborg's machinery seemed to be a little delayed and my aim was not as precise as I am used to. Also, it was more difficult with only four of us, instead of the usual five or six.

At one point, I tried to disarm Slade using my strength. When I had an open shot, I flew straight into him, my fists tight and tried to punch him right under his mask. Unfortunately, he had enough time to react and he grasped my hands. He flung me away, taking my weightlessness from flying to his advantage and threw me out the window. Shocked, my power of flight went away and I started falling.

Normally it is Robin who is able to catch me when I fall, which has occurred more times than I would liked to count. But Robin attacked Slade before I fell out the window and could not get to me in time. I could see his eyes widen as Slade punched him back before I started falling.

Robin is not the only one looking out for me though. Immediately, I saw a rope spring from the window and I grasped for it. When the rope and I fell to its limit, I heard Cyborg call, "I gotcha, Star!"

He didn't have to pull me back up, I was quite capable of recollecting my bearings and flying back up, but I knew he would pull me back if that's what he needed to do. When I flew back in, it was only him standing there in the window frame. The room had been cleared out and left a mess.

"What happened to Slade, Robin and Beast Boy?"

"I don't know, I was so focused on catching you, I didn't really notice. They must have taken the fight somewhere else."

"Thank you for the saving."

"No thanks needed; it's what a team does. Let's go find the rest."

"Calling anyone!" we suddenly heard Terra's raw yell through our communicators.

"We are here, friend," I spoke back, "What is the problem?"

"Slade's army robot is here and we need back up!" we heard her scream as well and the visual on the communicator went blurry. It came back in a split second, but then it was Raven's face.

"He's had his army clog up our one exit. There's got to be at least a hundred and they're _pouring _in."

"We're on our way," Cyborg said. As we headed towards the entrance he said, "Slade's not going easy at all. He's going to keep attacking the Tower till he gets what he wants. I wonder if he has any other booby traps laid out."

I did not what a booby trap was, but it sounded like something Beast Boy would find humorous. I could not ask because at that point, we found Terra and Raven swarmed by robots. They were doing their best to disarm them, but their sheer number was just too much for the two.

"They keep trying to grab her," Raven mentioned while throwing a piece of furniture at a group of robots, tilting her head to Terra. Terra was using a rock to smash robots one by one like a hammer to nails. She was barely standing.

"We need to get her away from here, but there's just no way out of this mess."

"Why don't you hide her in the Tower?" Cyborg suggested, "We can keep her safe until the action is more manageable."

"That's a good idea," Raven said, kicking one of the robots in the face while another tried to shoot her. At that point, two robots came from behind Terra and grabbed both her arms. The rock she was using fell to the floor.

"Yo! Pick on someone as ugly as you!" Cyborg yelled at them before transforming his hand into the sonic cannon. He hit them both without injuring Terra and they stepped back, stunned. Terra seemed stunned as well and Cyborg grabbed her, picking her up.

"I'll find a place to hide her," he said.

Raven nodded, "Ready to hold these guys off, Starfire?"

I responded by shooting a robot right through the torso with my eye lasers as Cyborg drove through the masses of robots back into the Tower.

**Terra**

"Um, I can walk, you know," I said as I lay uncomfortably in Cyborg's arms.

"Yeah, I know, but I can run faster," he joked back with me, even in the seriousness of the situation. Once we got past the robots, the corridors were eerily empty. All I could hear were Cyborg's feet clunking with every rushed step. In fact, they were so loud that they made it hard to hear anything else, and that hindered the plan to hide me.

Because a few minutes later, we ran right into Slade.

He seemed almost as surprised as us- he may have not known how to navigate through our maze of a Tower. But he composed himself as our surprise just manifested into fear. Cyborg put me down and I stood beside him, ready to attack.

"Where's Robin and Beast Boy?" Cyborg shouted, completely throwing me off.

"They are none of my concern," Slade said, "I have only one motive here."

_None of his concern? Did he hurt them? If they had been fighting him, how did he get away?_ There was a knot of worry in my throat.

"You're gonna have to get through me!" Cyborg shouted, "Terra, run!" he immediately ran to attack Slade fist-to-fist, but Slade moved out of the way. I tried to turn and run, but Slade whipped a rope with a weighted end and it wrapped itself around my torso. I struggled to pull away, but it was again a fight between me and something stronger than me.

"Don't even think about it!" Cyborg yelled. I could hear in Cyborg's voice a raw anger, one he very rarely pulled out. This wasn't him calling out cheap threats; his screaming was rough and angry and he _meant_ it.

I was faced in the other direction because of the rope, but Cyborg somehow cut it and attacked Slade and I just started running, even with the rope still holding my arms to my body. As I turned corners and ran farther away, it loosened and I pulled it off me. I fell into the first doorway I saw and shut the door and locked it. I didn't want them to have to fight my battle for me, but my entire body ached and I needed a minute to breathe. Just a minute.

Then I saw the room I was in. The archive room. Robin was a hoarder when it came to keeping all old records. Newspapers, crime reports, documented conversations- he kept them all and they stayed here even when the villain was long gone. Before I could stop myself, I started going through the chronological files to a year ago. Amidst little folders regarding petty robberies and patrol logs, there was one thick manila folder with three rubber bands holding it together. I tore it out of the drawer. Scribbled in thick black marker in Robin's handwriting was, "TERRA."

This was where we kept information on past criminals. I hadn't expected this to be a folder with my name on it, I expected it to say Slade's... or anything else. I had been curious walking in here if I could quickly find out what happened between him and I, but now I couldn't turn away from finding out. As if it were fragile, I walked the folder to the table in the middle of the room, sat down, and delicately pulled the rubber bands off. I opened to the first page.


	19. Prove

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long, I think I've rewritten the ending for this story in my head a million times! But I got some inspiration and I wrote two more chapters! Here you go!**

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><p>Email correspondence between Terra and Slade over the course of March to June, 2004. Files confiscated from Terra's computer in July, 2004.<p>

_Terra: Phase 1 is complete. The Titans have asked me to be a part of their team._

_Slade: Good. We will proceed to phase 2 once you obtain more information._

…

_Terra: Found today the database of their personal information. Sending over the information._

_Slade: This is all very good, however, more personal information is needed. We need more than birthdays and home towns. We need analyses of their personality and powers. We need weaknesses. Think more personal than just logical, Terra. You need to connect with them emotionally._

…

_Terra: Found out today that both Starfire and Raven have connections between their powers and emotions. Starfire uses emotion to release her powers and Raven must keep her emotions in control or her powers will go haywire. If she gets too angry, they can go out of control._

_Slade: Very good. When we strike, remember the information you have obtained. We can move farther into Phase 2 if you start researching how to get into the Tower's security._

_Terra: The Tower is connected to Cyborg. I'll see what information I can get from him._

…

_Terra: They've trusted me enough to give me the password to the Tower security. I can unsecure the Tower without their help._

_Slade: Excellent. Prepare for Phase 3. We will strike in one week._

…

_Terra: Cyborg has just locked the Tower and I unlocked it after they all went to bed. Everything is set for the invasion._

_Slade: Very good. Robots are being set to the Tower now. Escape within the next hour before the invasion starts. I'll be waiting for you, apprentice._

Jump CityNewspaper clipping from April, 2004

Plus One Titan?

Our teen heroes are always a sight for sore eyes. Our five favorite Titans are often there to save the day and sometimes they have a friend or two on their side to help fight crime. Lately, however, we have seen them with one particular friend, and she has been at every crime scene for the past two weeks. We do not know her name, but we can tell you that she is a skinny blonde, adorned in black and yellow, showing off a T on her shirt (what does that T stand for? Teen? Titan?). We've also heard sources about seeing her powers, an impressive control on the Earth around her. Some have already complained about her ease to tear up the tar on the street, causing frequent traffic as it is fixed.

Still, despite any destruction, we always welcome a hero ready to fight the crime that infests our streets. Now, we ask the Titans, who is this girl? Is she here for good?

Jump City Newspaper Clipping from April, 2004

Update: Plus One Titan!

The Titans have taken the time to respond to our cry about the new Titan. They have officially introduced their new friend as a permanent member of the team. Her name is Terra and her powers are the ability to move the Earth around her. We've never heard of this Terra from surrounding towns, but we hope she enjoys Jump City as her new home (and maybe takes it easy on the busier streets).

Jump City Newspaper Clipping from August, 2004

Traitor!

We're infuriated with what we witnessed yesterday. Absolutely infuriated. At approximately 2pm yesterday, multiple witnesses reported seeing a very familiar blonde earth-manipulator attacking the Titans. We couldn't believe our ears when we heard that the girl was Terra, the one we welcomed to our city just months ago. However, multiple sources have confirmed that the villain is indeed Terra, and we are hurt and enraged. The traitor destroyed our city today, using the street and sidewalk to attack her former friends and sending monsters into the city to alarm innocent citizens. The Titans have failed to answer phone calls regarding today's incident, but we assume they are out trying to control the situation. At least we have some heroes we can rely on.

Terra, you are no longer welcome in this city and we know the Titans will find a way to stop you. We don't know what you're plan is or what happened between you and the Titans, but don't take it out of our city.

Jump City Newspaper Clipping from August, 2004

Advisory

Terra is not just a solo villain looking to defeat her fellow friends. We've received word that she is working for a much more sinister villain, by the name of Slade. Slade has sent in multiple robots and monsters to hurt and harass innocent citizens into getting their money or valuables. The Titans are nowhere to be found. We ask for their safe return into the city and pray that Slade and Terra have not destroyed them.

As for us, we advise that every citizen of the city please clear out for your safety. We cannot risk someone getting hurt while we wait for the Titan's return. Please read the following to learn more about Jump City's official evacuation process and where you can go to stay for the time being.

Jump City Newspaper Clipping from September, 2004

Terra: A Teen Titan, A True Friend

We are proud to state that the city has been saved from Slade, the Titans are back, and every Jump City citizen is safe at home after evacuating.

While we don't exactly how Slade was defeated (how the Titans keep our city safe is none of our concern, as long as we're safe), we did receive a brief press statement from our favorite Teen heroes. The statement reads:

"Although Terra did do terrible things, we would like the public to know that in the end Terra was a true Teen Titan. She risked her life to save the city and suffered complicated consequences for her actions. We hope that one day she will be back, but for now, we would like the city to consider her a hero, not a traitor."

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><p><strong>What did you think of this chapter? I know it's different, so I would love some reviews! Love you!<strong>


	20. Discover

**Told you, I've been writing a lot! You guys will get lots of chapters this week as after this week, I'm going on vacation (and hopefully there I will figure out the end!) Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Robin<strong>

The fight with Slade wasn't really a fight. He was dead set on looking for Terra, so once she fled with Raven, he just wanted to shake us out of his way. As he ran out of Terra's room to search, Beast Boy and I tried to interfere. He wasn't in the mood to fight like usual self. When I got in his way, he didn't use his natural strength to injure me. Instead, he stunned me with an electric shocker and I fell to the ground, blacking out.

"Robin!" I came to with Beast Boy screaming in my ear, "Hey, you okay?" his nose was practically brushing against mine.

"Egh, Beast Boy, give me some space!" I got back on to my feet with a slight stagger, "I'm fine. Where's Slade?"

"He ran off as soon as you went down."

"You let him get away?"

He took it personally, "Dude, I was checking on you. He already wants Terra gone, I wasn't going to let him have you too."

There was no time to argue, "Let's split up. You start at the bottom of the Tower, I'll start at the top. One of us will have to run into him."

"I hope it's you," he said, but we parted ways. As I headed to the common space as my starting point, I called into my communicator to find if someone needed help, but no one responded. I worried about what they had run into that would make them unresponsive, but I had to hope for the best.

I wanted to be thorough in my search, so I opened every door and checked every room to see if I could find Slade or the others. There was no trace of anyone until I found the door to the archive room locked. I stood there dumbfounded for a moment since we never lock doors. I put in my passcode to override the lock.

No one was in the room. I stepped in and took a cautionary look. The light was on and a drawer had been opened. A thick file remained on the table- it's innards dissected and strewn about the space. I checked the folder and immediately recognized it as-

"Terra?" I called.

"Oh good," a voice echoed. The heating vent burst open and she came crawling out, jumping back to the floor, "It's just you."

"Yeah, I," I started, "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding from Slade and his robots."

"His robots are here too?"

She nodded.

"He's really serious about this."

"Yeah," she said solemnly.

"Can I ask what you were doing in here?" I gestured to the papers.

"Oh," she turned red, "I was trying to see why Slade wanted me dead."

"So you know now what happened."

"Yeah," her voice had fallen to a whisper.

"So you remember it?"

She shook her head, "No."

"What? You found out though."

"Yeah, but, I don't remember it," she walked over to the papers, picking up a newspaper clipping, skimming it, and putting it down again, "It's like it's telling me a fictional story. I worked for Slade?"

I nodded, "You were his apprentice. You tried to destroy us and then helped him control the city."

"Yeah," she said slowly, "That's what this says. But then I saved the city?"

"Yeah. You became a hero in the end. You threw Slade in a pit of lava."

"But I don't remember it," her voice suddenly picked up, "I don't remember any of this. I don't even know why I would leave you guys for Slade."

"You were," I began to explain, but then I remembered we weren't allowed to tell her, "I'm sorry, Terra. Maybe one day you'll remember. But, despite what happened, we still consider you a Titan."

She didn't respond. Maybe she didn't know how to respond. It was like there was a canyon between us of what she knew was fact and the emotions I remembered tied into it. It was one thing to hear about a betrayal, it was another to physically punch a friend and not listen to your gut screaming that maybe it was wrong.

"You're probably repressing the memories," I said, "I've been Slade's apprentice before."

"You were?" she asked. I knew I had told her this before, I could even remember how I held her down in a fight explaining it, "Why?"

"He threatened me. Manipulated me. The times with him…well, it's something I would rather forget."

"So you think I did."

"Possibly."

She looked down again at the papers, trying to process everything, "I'm…sorry if I hurt you guys then."

_She doesn't know the half of it,_ "It's okay. Things happen. Things get complicated."

**Beast Boy**

This was turning into every bad horror movie. Once Robin and I split, I went down a flight of stairs and the hall was dim. Someone had knocked out most of the lights, causing them to be completely dead or flicker as fast as my heartbeat. The carpet was scuffed and part of the wall was caved in by something the size of a fist. This wasn't evidence of a fight, this was proof of a victory for Slade. Because at the end of the hall was Cyborg, lying on his side like a broken toy.

"Cy!" I screamed, kneeling down to him, "Hey, you okay? Wake up!"

You can't check his heartbeat like a normal person. Luckily, his mouth was open and his breathing was loud. I pulled his arm out from under him and checked his vitals. It said he was okay- but his battery was minutes from dropping too low.

"Hey, wake up!" I shouted again, "We gotta get you back to your room!"

He moaned and his eye lifted halfway open. I struggled to lift him up. Eventually, he gained enough consciousness to stand by himself.

"We gotta get you to your power source," I said. He nodded groggily and let me lead him there, "What happened to you?"

"Slade. I tried taking him down solo."

_Well, that'll do it_, I couldn't help think, "Where's the rest?"

"Star and Raven are taking down the robots at the entrance-"

"There are robots?"

He nodded, "Terra ran to hide when we ran into Slade. Hopefully she found a place."

For a second, I could feel bile in my throat. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't agree, I couldn't reassure, I couldn't be helpful. Not knowing if Terra was safe- sometimes there aren't words to describe such fear.

We managed to straggle to his room with no run-ins. I hooked him up to his computer under his direction, but when he was all plugged in, his body shut down to sleep. I set the code on the door to lock it as I left. Last thing he needed was Slade finding him again.

I was going to call the rest of the Titans, but I hesitated for a moment because I was afraid of what the status might be on Terra. I didn't know how I could handle the news if no one knew where she was. As I held my communicator, trying to decide whether to check-in, I looked up and saw I was no longer alone. Looking back at me, with lifeless eyes, were lines of Slade's robots.

As heroes, we're taught to fight instead of flight. We're trained to take a stance and even though our enemies may make us shake in our shoes, we stay until the battle is over. We learn responsibility over instinct.

But, for whatever reason, I fled this time. I turned right around and just scrammed in the other direction. I didn't hesitate anymore with my communicator, "I need backup! The robots; they're everywhere!"

"I can't come," Raven spoke first, "Starfire's in the infirmary."

"Starfire's been hurt?" My heart stopped and I almost stopped running. I expected with every fiber of my being for Robin to respond with a bitter, angry statement about how someone should pay, but it was Terra's soft voice instead.

"Cyborg, back Beast Boy up. Terra and I will be there as soon as we can."

There was reassurance knowing Terra wasn't alone, but, "Cyborg got knocked out by Slade. He's recharging," I said.

Robin swore, "Meet in the infirmary. Beast Boy, just try to outrun the robots. We need to regroup."

Outrunning robots is something that is doable. Their programmed sluggish pace is nothing when I transform into a jaguar. In moments, I sped beyond them.

My mind, it was running even faster with worry.

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><p><strong>Reviews are always appreciated! <strong>


	21. Kiss

**Next chapter! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Raven<strong>

Beast Boy was the first to meet us in the infirmary. As a jaguar, he shoved headfirst through the door, causing a ruckus that made Starfire stir in her unconscious sleep.

"Could you make any more noise?" I said, trying to keep my frustration down.

"Dude, do you know how many robots were chasing me?" he demanded. I gave him a look and it answered the question for him.

"How's Star doing?" his tone was lighter.

"Not well."

"What happened?"

"I didn't see it exactly, but at some point, I think she tried to kick a robot and her leg got caught in the hole she made. She tripped and the robots around her ganged up and got in some direct shots to her head," he leaned in and could see the cuts and blood staining her perfect face, "She's gonna need stitches."

I went over to the medical closet and got the supplies necessary. Beast Boy didn't say anything, but the silence was broken yet again when the door opened, revealing a breathless Robin and Terra.

"You guys okay?" Beast Boy asked.

"Just wanted to get past the robots," Robin said.

"Lock the door," I said, coming back to Starfire, "We don't need an attack in here."

Robin did as he was told.

Terra had wandered over to the bed. After she lay there for weeks, her friend was now occupying it, "Is she okay?" she asked.

"No," I said sharply, "She's not."

Terra could see the deep cuts across Starfire's forehead where the blood was dripping out and blending into her hair.

"Is she _going_ to be okay?" Terra looked up at me.

"The attacks knocked her unconscious, but she'll be okay. She needs some stitches," and I got working. I cleaned the wound and started sewing. At some point, Robin came over too and lightly touched Starfire's hand. His face softened, but he did not speak.

"And Cyborg?" Terra continued, turning to Beast Boy "What happened?"

"Slade whooped his butt. I found him out of battery, so I had to bring him to his room to recharge. Guess Slade fought him to near death."

As I worked on Starfire, I could see Terra's face stiffen.

"All right, Titans," Robin said, "As soon as Raven's done helping Starfire, we have to get back out there. We're going to ignore the robots and find Slade. We'll split up into four separate sectors and travel through the rafters. Once someone spots him, call it the rest and we'll all-"

"No," Terra interrupted. Robin didn't like the noise.

"No? What do you mean, 'no'? I know you're afraid of him, but you have to fight. We need you."

"Dude, she shouldn't fight. He's after her!" Beast Boy piped up.

"We're two Titans down and we need all the help we can get," Robin argued.

"No, I'm not letting you guys out there," Terra said, "He wants me. And I'm not letting him kill all of you so he can have me," she paused, "I'm going out there on my own."

"That's not how we do this," Robin immediately rejected the idea, "I'm not letting you go out there. You'll kill yourself!"

"On the contrary," she said and I raised my eyebrow, "I'm going to kill him. I'm not afraid of him; he's afraid of me."

"Terra," I finally spoke up, "Don't be stupid. You know how he destroyed you earlier today. Don't try to do something you can't."

Maybe for a moment, she listened to me. Her body went limp in defeat, but then she took another look at Starfire and shook her head, "I killed him once," she said, "I can kill him again. Stay here and stay safe. This is something I need to do."

She unlocked the door and left.

**Terra**

I had no idea what I was going to do. But Starfire's face, the blood crawling down her face, the fatal condition I heard Cyborg was in: this was all my fault and I could not tolerate anyone else getting hurt. Slade was out of the kill because of all the mistakes _I_ had made. Even if I didn't remember them, my friends couldn't suffer for me. If Raven or Robin or Beast Boy- if Beast Boy was ever hurt because of me, I would not be able to live on.

Minutes after I left the infirmary, the sound of sneakers running echoed down the hall. I turned around and saw Beast Boy catching up to me, his eyes wide.

"You can't follow me," I said, "I have to do this myself."

"I know," he said, "But before you do, there's something I have to do. I'm not letting you get away this time."

And with all his muster, he kissed me.

He wrapped one arm around my waist, soft enough that if I wanted to break away, I could, but when I leaned into him and kissed back, he tightened the grip. He touched the side of my face. It felt like a first kiss.

Then it hit me that it was. The memory of our first kiss in the ferris wheel suddenly rewrote itself to our lips barely touching and Slade's cool tone cutting the silence. Memories fit in places that used to be blank. Yelling at Beast Boy and leaving the Titans. Training with Slade. Letting robots invade the Tower. Pieces flew back, places and faces I never before remembered. A hall of broken mirrors. A tight, blue uniform. The defeat written across Raven as she drowned in mud. Beast Boy's voice screaming that I had choices. Lava, Slade's mask drenched in it. Every memory hit, but a piece told me I always knew these things. They were always stuck in the back of my head, screaming to come out.

Then the kiss ended.

We looked at each other with a question. My eyes must have exposed my realization because he asked, "Are you okay?"

I realized my breath had stopped, "That was our first kiss," I inhaled, "Wasn't it?"

His eyes came to my level of surprise. He understood, "Yeah," he seemed afraid to say more, but he had nothing to fear. I kissed him swiftly on the cheek.

"Stay safe. I'll be okay," I said. I didn't give him time to respond. I ran away, my head light in confidence.

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><p><strong>Happy I'm posting so quickly? Show your love and send reviews!<strong>


	22. Confront

**Here's what you've been anticipating! I hope you enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Slade<strong>

I'm a man of focus, but was hard being in the Titan's Tower and resisting the urge to snoop. In the depths of their privacy, they were nothing more than gangly hormone-driven teens with interests in loud music, books, and apparently a passionate hatred towards cleaning. _Don't think about straying_, I had to tell myself, _You're here for serious business._

A particular image of Terra in my head boiled my blood. Back when she betrayed me, her fierce face and teeth clenched as she threw rocks and dropped me in burning liquid. It was my fault for trusting someone so unstable, a young girl with no focus or self-confidence. But character flaws or not, she was a threat. I've seen her powers fly out of her control and they are more powerful than any of the Titans- if she got a handle on them, she could take out anyone by herself. I wouldn't have to deal with her if I stayed dead and for a while her stone state worked in my favor, but now that we were both alive, I needed to take her out before she learned to control her true potential.

Like striking gold, as I was searching the Tower thoroughly for her, hoping another pesky Titan wouldn't get in my way, there, I saw her running down the adjacent hallway. Her step was off because of an injury and it made me smile at how my earlier damage put her at such a disadvantage. I sprung into a run after her and by the slight turn of her head, I could tell she noticed my pursuit. I followed her up the stairs and wondering where she was trying to get to, I slowed my pace. _Let her think she's in control, something she always strived to be._

As we raced up the stairs, I realized that she was leading me to the roof, a great advantage for her, but it wouldn't hinder me. I found myself calling, "You can't run from me forever," just to freak her out.

We got to the roof and the sky was pitch black, a reminder of how long this day had been. Just this morning, before sunrise, I was planting fake bombs.

We stood on the roof with our only light source from the city, but it was enough for me, "Realized it's over, Terra?" I asked. We stood on opposite sides of the roof, grounding ourselves.

She shook her head, "I just realized that if I killed you once, I can do it again," she gave a look, and I knew she remembered. Where her mind realized the horrors of what she did was beyond me. I was surprised it didn't happen sooner.

_Stay focused,_ I had to remind myself because a moment later, her hands glowed and rocks erupted into the sky at our eye level.

She had her ammunition, but she was still barely standing. I had to bit my tongue to prevent laughter, "Are you ready now?" I called out.

"I'm ready to smash you," the grit in her voice meant it.

Her first rock came whizzing at me, but I was one step ahead. I threw a smoke bomb and it blurred her vision. By the time the smoke cleared, I was already in her face and throwing her down. She took smaller rocks and threw them at me, making them explode like hand grenades. Her aim wasn't the best, however, as she also had to avoid hitting herself with them. I had her by the arm and tossed, kicked, and physically moved her with attacks. I wasn't using weapons anymore, my hands were hungry to inflict pain.

Eventually, she fell to her side and rolled. She went limp for a moment, but when she realized she was at the edge of the roof, her body came back to life. She had run out of rocks in the air and she was barely moving. I couldn't help but think, _Well, that didn't take very long at all._

I grabbed her by her hair and all her life came back in a high-pitched shrill. I dangled her over the edge and said, "I told you this would be the end."

There was a memory flashback. Of me holding her by her uniform after she betrayed me, as her head lolled in defeat before her eyes opened and she smashed the mountain we stood on to pieces. The memory must have come back to her too, because her head rolled the same way, but she couldn't open her eyes.

I think I stalled. My fingers lost their grip on her, but it wasn't fast enough. A boulder, double my size, came flying at me with the momentum of a highway-riding car. She must have called it from the city in order for it to gain that kind of speed. It hit us both and she went tumbling to the ground. I ended up losing my balance- the rock smashed part of the roof in and I ended up lost in a chaos of weightlessness and debris. A moment where reality was suspended- before I had to save myself.

I grabbed at the edge of the Tower just in time. It was a window pane in the middle of the T, just meters from the ground. My fingers immediately grasped with all their might while I rummaged for my grappling hook and shot it back to the roof. Pulling a Robin, I started climbing my way back to safety. I caught my reflection in one of the windows- and I caught the reflection of my enemy behind me.

There, Terra was on a rock just big enough to hold her as she kneeled on her shin, her hands rested. Her hair was blowing untamed and her face and limbs layered in blood. She saved herself, but it was still a nasty fall.

"Are you done?" she screamed, thoroughly enraged. She looked like a nightmare, like something risen from the dead.

A sharp rock cut through my grappling string. I was weightless again, but before I could really fall, one of her larger rocks caught me. I was lying on my back, but before I could jump back to my feet, she brought the rock up to the sky with a speed fast enough to strap me down motionless. All I could do was hang on and wait. When I was a distance in the air, much higher than the Tower, she stopped it. I was going to get up and assess how I could escape, but there wasn't time to move again. She flipped the rock around, the momentum strong enough that now I was stuck at the bottom of the rock, and she drove it down fast enough that it drove me down too. Into the water.

The bay around the Titan's Tower is shallow, but it's still water. Terra's rock drove me to the very bottom and once my mask went face-first in underwater sand, it rested atop me. I tried to knock it off me, I only had four minutes tops before I needed air, but she was still driving the rock against me. With her strength so concentrated on such a large boulder, there was no way I could move. For the first time in my life, I actually felt kind of hopeless.

I still struggled, but I couldn't wriggle myself out. My breath was starting to run out and I couldn't keep my mouth shut forever. My body was beginning to work against me, wanting me to breathe when I knew what I would take in would not be air. I had to fight it as long as possible.

They say that right before you die, you accept it. It's true, even if it's not prominent. There's a moment, one single moment, when your body is suspended in flesh-burning lava or when your mouth gasps and your lungs are overcome with sea water, that you suddenly accept that you can't escape it this time. You let your body go numb and stop fighting what is inevitable.

Because you know, after that moment, the suffering will be over.

**Terra**

I held my breath when I drove him into the water. When I couldn't hold it any longer, I made myself anyway. Then my mouth opened against my will and I coughed and gagged for breath. Then I waited ten more minutes. Then I just had to remind myself that he couldn't survive that long under water. He had to be dead.

Now I had to worry about myself. It took enough energy to move myself to the roof and roll off my rock and just lie atop our Tower. The Titans had listened to my order about hanging back- I think a first for Robin- but now that I needed help getting back on my feet, I wished they would just show up. I was hoping my strength would come back, but it didn't. Eventually, I managed to gain the stamina to crawl to the roof exit and propel myself down the stairs. By propel, I mean gracefully fall.

I managed to get back on my feet by the time I reached the floor of the infirmary. I noticed the robots all piled on the floor, now automatically unprogrammed from the death of their master. It gave me more reassurance that he was actually gone.

With every step buckling under me, I came back to the infirmary where the four Titans remained. I lifted my head enough to see that Starfire was awake and okay. That was all that mattered.

"He's gone," I said, and fell face-first into the floor.

After that, I blurred in and out. I felt someone lift me into the bed. Raven cleaned my wounds and stitched up my face. I think I said I was okay, I just wanted to sleep.

I said I remembered. Finally, someone responded. Maybe it was me.

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><p><strong>Please review, I want to know what you all thought for such a critical chapter! Also, while THIS IS NOT THE END. I'm going on vacation for the next two weeks and can't post there :( But I don't even know how I'm going to end it yet, so hopefully while I'm gone I'll figure it out. I just figured this would be a good place to leave you all. While I'm gone, please send some lovely, critical reviews!<strong>


	23. Go

**I'm back from vacation and have the ending all set! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Robin<strong>

It was the next morning. We had all gone to bed that night without cleaning the robot remains, writing any reports, or even turning off any lights. We carried Terra to her bed, escorted Starfire to her room, checked on Cyborg, locked down the Tower and flopped into bed. It had been a long day- that was an understatement. My body ached and my mind was overwhelmed.

My internal clock woke me up the next morning at sunrise. A new day was a clean slate and it was time to keep moving. I wanted to train before anyone else got up, so I could have time to think by myself.

I got dressed and went to the kitchen for a pre-workout snack. I had forgotten our entire Tower was littered with robots, but after the initial shock of seeing a body in my doorway, I just casually stepped over them. I had hoped today we could just move on from Slade's attack, but as I stepped over countless robot bits, I realized cleaning his mess was going to take the better part of the day.

I opened the door to the main room, first kicking a robot face in my way. Not paying attention, I walked in and nearly shouted when I realized I wasn't alone.

She thought she was alone too. She turned her head, her hair flicking out of her face as she looked wide-eyed at me. The stitching on her cheek was prominent, much more prominent than her bruises. Her eyes were bloodshot and the bags under them drooped.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" I asked casually before realizing she wasn't just surprised. Her fearful face didn't go away with recognition, "What's wrong?"

Then I noticed her backpack was on the table.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Terra, what are you doing?"

"I can't stay."

She started to put the backpack on and rush past me, but I lunged and grabbed her shoulder enough to turn her back around.

"Terra, what's _wrong_? Why can't you stay?"

"I just can't!" she shouted. She ripped my hand off her, "I have to go."

"If this is about remembering…and Slade, we forgive you for it!"

She kept walking.

"I know what it's like to betray your friends! I know what it's like to hate yourself," she was still moving, "Terra! _Where are you going to go?_"

I shouldn't have said it. The girl we found living in a cave and I screamed at her that she has no other home. She ducked her head as she passed me to escape. I didn't run after her, though she needed someone to talk to her. I figured I did enough damage.

How do you catch someone who keeps running from what's not there? The girl assumes we hate her, and she runs to Slade. She makes one mistake, and she runs without even trying to solve the problem. What problem even is there? What is she hiding from? There's something in her head that tells her things aren't right, but everyone else thinks they're okay.

I went back to my daily routine, just because I was at a loss of what else to do. I got to the gym, started my warm-up, but I didn't get much farther after that. I couldn't believe she had left again, and with so few words. She didn't even leave a note.

I soon realized that this meant I would have to tell the rest.

I was a mixed bag of nerves and fear of their reactions. What was I supposed to say? _Terra left…I don't know why…Sorry guys._ I could just picture Starfire going soft, her eyes liquidating under tears. Beast Boy would be in denial, then storm off in a cliché teenage fashion to its room…or probably Terra's room. Raven and Cyborg would ask all sorts of questions, well, all four of them would ask questions, but Starfire and Beast Boy's would be much more emotionally driven. Cyborg and Raven would want to know exactly why she left and where she was going: things I didn't have answers for.

It wasn't long before my expectations became reality. I sat in the common room, flicking through TV channels in nervousness while I waited for them to wake up. Raven woke up next, and I tried opening my mouth while she made her tea, but nothing came out. Cyborg was up after her, and I asked how he was feeling, but once he said he was fine, I shut my mouth. Starfire came into the main room after, her cheery good mornings making me feel worse every moment.

I waited in anticipation. Beast Boy was a late sleeper, but Terra used to sleep even later. When he woke up, he normally woke her up. So when he eventually showed up, the first thing out of his mouth was:

"Hey, Terra's not in her room. Is she in here?"

The rest shook their heads.

"Where would she be?" Beast Boy asked.

"You don't think-" Starfire suddenly started.

"She's in trouble? Maybe Slade got her again," Cyborg proposed.

"We have to go find her!" Beast Boy exclaimed and I knew it was now or never.

"It's not Slade," I said, only loud enough for them to hear.

"Then where is she?" Raven asked.

"She left," I said quickly. They said they couldn't hear me and I had to repeat it.

"She left?" Cyborg asked, "Where did she go?"

"She didn't say. She just said she couldn't stay."

There was a moment of silence. Then all my expectations became reality. Starfire nearly cried. Raven and Cyborg probed with questions I just shrugged to. Beast Boy walked out. Eventually, the girls left too- Starfire to cry and Raven, because that was what she did. I sat back down on the couch and Cyborg sat next to me.

"She said she remembered," I whispered to him.

He seemed surprised but he said, "Maybe she just couldn't handle the truth."

"But we forgive her."

"She probably can't forgive herself."

I remembered my time after I was forced to work with Slade, "But I was in her shoes once…and I forgave myself."

He paused for a minute, "Maybe you're just stronger than her."

I didn't want to be stronger than her. I wanted her to finally be the person she always longed to be.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	24. Epilouge

**Well everyone, I'm just going to say this: Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Beast Boy<strong>

It's been five years.

Five years and I'm standing at the kitchen table, noticing the little changes in the Tower that have actually changed everything. The new TV, the latest GameStation, the grey couch we bought once Silkie had babies on the black one. Over time, the room became a new room, and I never noticed until now.

We've had this kitchen table since we started as a team and it always had a large crack where the legs met the table. I never gave it much consideration- until today when I was surveying the room and noticed that the crack isn't just a crack- there's a folded piece of paper lost in it. With curiosity, I pull out the paper, feeling the dust engrained in the fibers, and wonder how long it's been hiding.

"I'm so sorry," The handwriting's a dead giveaway, "I learned last night what I truly did to you guys and I don't think I'll be able to look you straight in the face for a while. I'm going to leave, but I hope to come back and I hope you'll greet me with open arms. Until then, I need time alone."

Out of nowhere, I feel my stomach lurch and I'm suddenly hunched over the kitchen sink dry heaving. Why did she hide this note in the table? Did it fall there accidentally? It must have, Robin never said anything about her saying she would come back. She must have thought we would read the note and wait for her return. Instead, when she moved on, we had to move on too.

She said she was going to come back. But it's been five years and she has never shown up on your door. The age old question resurfaces: Where is she? along with wondering where she is and what occupied her so that she did never come back. The idea crosses my mind that maybe she's no longer alive and that's enough to turn my dry heaving into vomit.

I recompose myself and stand back where I found the note. I can help but realize that it's only when I stood in the exact same place as her, the exact same situation too, that I found her goodbye.

Raven comes into the room and notices my rigid stance, "You okay?" she asks. Raven's changed over the years. Her robes are white and her hair is messier. Her stoic expression has never faded.

"Yeah," is all I can muster.

"Are you done packing?"

"Almost."

"Well, the cab'll be here in an hour. Be ready," and she exits.

It just so happens that a photo in my wallet is form seven years ago, when Terra was a Titan and a spy for Slade. I pull it out of my pocket and see the six of us posed with the Tower and its old furnishings behind us. Terra and I are on the end, me squishing her in because she didn't want to be photographed. But she's laughing at my gesture and I remember that even though she was a spy then, she truly did want to be part of the team.

She looks so young. We all do, it's an old photo. But she's got a naïve face that reminds me of how lost she was- and possibly still is.

She left, but it was only a little while before we all started packing our bags. Two years after her departure, Starfire and Robin announced they were moving in together in an apartment a few towns away. They've stayed in touch since and I see them at least twice a week, but their departure reminded us that we were the _Teen_ Titans, and we quickly grew out of our title.

We decided to pass on the legacy to other teens looking to be heroes, and quickly two kids moved in looking for guidance and control. Raven, Cyborg, and I stayed on the team but it was only a few months later before Cyborg said he wanted to pursue other things. He still comes over frequently and he still makes all of our technology, but his absence was a sign. It was going to end soon enough.

Raven and I both wanted to stay, so we added two more Titans to the team and soon the four new Titans became part of what I consider my family. We tore apart the old Titans' bedrooms and redecorated according to the new ones' preferences. When we let in a fourth Titan, Raven convinced me that we had to redecorate Terra's unused bedroom.

That's probably the last time I ever really thought of her this deeply. We cleared out her things and repainted the desert sky and wiped off the dust. I broke down in tears when I saw her heart box still there, untouched, and was more upset for no reason when we never located her butterfly clip. After that day, Raven hugged me and I never thanked her for it. It was the only time the new Titans heard or saw anything about Terra and they knew better than ask for more.

It wasn't long before I realized I was too old for this job. I love the new teens, but they are young teens and I decided I needed to work with people my own age. I gave Raven my leave and she understood, confiding that she would stay until the Titans were completely ready to work on their own before she found a new niche too.

I look back now at the photo in my hand, my team grinning through their pubescent faces. Back then I thought the Titans were my whole life, but here I am with my whole life in front of me. I look at Terra's face again and remember how I thought Terra was the love of my life. In the end, we shared one kiss.

She never came home, and eventually I had to move on. I tried to find her after she left but with no trace, the Titans convinced me it was time to let her go. At some point, I did. I dated other girls, had some very serious relationships. I have no one right now, but it goes to show that even though my heart seemed set on her, I picked myself at some point and stopped waiting.

But now this letter brings back every worry I thought I had subdued. She left with so many unanswered questions that I just became numb to over time. Terra knew how to get herself in dangerous situations and the fact that she never actually returned even though she planned to makes me sick again.

I have to remind myself that she's gone. Even with all my searching, hoping, and waiting, there's no way I can get her back. She fled and whatever she got herself into impeded her return. I take this reality with so much more sensibility than I would have five years ago.

The door slides open again and this time it's the new Teen Titans, "Oh, hey, guys," I say, slipping the note in my pocket, "I was just about to come say goodbye."

"Raven told us you were taking too long so we had to come find you," Steph, the matter-of-fact redhead said. I laugh, because my emotions are so shot from Terra's letter that it's the only way I can hide them.

After promises and emotional goodbyes and long hugs and Raven yelling that the taxi is on the mainland, as close to our island as it can get, I head out of the room. I look at the common room and see the new Titans disperse into their daily activities of television, games, and reading. I smile at how they have found the Tower to be their home, the way I will find a new home. The way Terra must have found a new home.

The way I have to hope- for my sanity- that Terra must have found a new home.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that's the final chapter. It took me MANY different endings to find one I felt really fit. Please review since it's the end! I'm not sure if I'll be doing another story soon, but we'll see! Thanks to all of you who have given such good criticism, reviewed for every chapter, and have stuck with me through the whole story! You guys have revived my passion in writing and I hope to write more soon! <strong>


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